’ . < 'vV 


F.  P.  A. 

Pamphlet  No.  39 
Series  of  1925-26 
May,  1926 


The  Opium  Situation 

IN 

India 

Recent  Developments 


’Prepared  by 

The  Opium  Research  Committee 
of  the 

Foreign  Policy  Association 

NATIONAL  HEADQUARTERS 

EIGHTEEN  EAST  FORTY-FIRST  STREET 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


181 


CONTENTS 


Page 

INTRODUCTION  4 

The  World  Opium  Problem 4 

The  Position  of  India  at  the  Geneva  Conferences 5 

Part  I— INDIA’S  NEW  EXPORT  POLICY 7 

End  of  the  China  Trade 7 

Agreements  w^ith  Importing  Countries 7 

Import  Certificate  System 7 

Responsibility  over  Exports 8 

Lord  Reading’s  Statement  of  Policy 9 

Part  II— OPIUM  CONSUMPTION  IN  INDIA 12 

Position  of  Government  of  India  on  Opium  Consumption 12 

Position  of  Indian  Opinion  on  Opium  Consumption 13 

Analysis  of  Government  Figures  for  Opium  Consumption 13 

The  Problem  in  Native  States 15 

The  Problem  in  Assam 16 

Review  of  Royal  Commission  of  1893 17 

CONCLUSION  18 

ANNEXES 

Annex  I — An  Indian  Critique  of  the  Opium  Policy  of  the  Government  of  India 
Speech  by  Dr.  S.  K.  Datta  in  the  Indian  Legislative  Assembly 
March  10,  1926 20 

Annex  II — Speech  by  Sir  Basil  Blackett  in  the  Indian  Legislative  Assembly, 

March  10,  1926 29 

Annex  III — Recommendations  of  the  Assam  Congress  Opium  Inquiry  Committee..  32 

Annex  IV— Opium  Policy  of  the  Government  of  India 

(Extracts  from  the  official  Report  of  the  Indian  Delegation,  Inter- 
national Conferences  at  Geneva,  1924-25) 33 

Annex  V — Statistics  for  British  India  Showing  Consumption  of  Opium  per 

Ten  Thousand  in  Seers  for  1922-23 35 

Annex VI— Statements  of  Indian  Opinion  at  the  Second  Opium  Conference, 

Geneva,  1924-25  43 

Bibliography  44 

Map  showing  Opium  Consumption  in  India 47 


The  Opium  Situation 

IN 

India 


Recent  Developments 


Two  developments  of  great  importance  to  the  world  prob- 
lem of  opium  have  taken  place  recently  in  India, 

1.  Export  of  Opium— (Smoking) 

The  Government  of  India  has  served  formal  no- 
tice of  its  intention  to  retire  from  the  export  trade 
in  smoking  opium.  Early  in  February  the  Viceroy 
of  India,  Lord  Reading,  announced  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  progressively  reduce  its  exports  of 
opium  so  as  to  eliminate  them  altogether  within  a 
definite  period  of  years,  except  for  strictly  medical 
purposes.  In  March  the  Indian  Legislative  Assem- 
bly and  the  Council  of  State  voiced  their  full  ap- 
proval of  the  policy  announced  by  the  government. 

11.  Internal  Consumption — (Eating) 

Private  investigators  in  India  have  uncovered  new 
facts  regarding  consumption  of  opium  by  eating 
which  vitally  affect  the  established  policy  of  the 
Government  of  India.  The  situation  revealed  by 
exhaustive  surveys  in  many  provincial  districts  con- 
trasts sharply  with  accepted  opinions  and  is  calling 
for  fresh  consideration  of  the  whole  problem  and 
its  remedy. 

This  pamphlet  is  limited  to  a factual  account  of  the  re- 
cent developments  in  India,  and  an  explanation  of  their  sig- 
nificance in  relation  to  the  larger  question  of  international 
control  of  opium.  Part  I deals  with  the  new  export  policy 
and  its  immediate  background.  Part  II  summarizes  the  new 
evidence  regarding  internal  consumption  in  India.* 


•Much  of  the  data  presented  In  the  section  dealing  with  opium  consumption  in  India  was 
gathered  by  the  Rev.  William  Paton,  Secretary  .of  the  National  Christian  Council  of  India, 
Burma  and  Ceylon,  at  the  special  request  of  the  Opium  Research  Committee  of  the  Foreign 
Policy  Association. 


3 


INTRODUCTION 


INDIA  occupies  a prominent  position  in  relation  to  the  international 
opium  problem.  She  is  still  the  largest  exporter  of  raw  opium.  She 
is  the  largest  opium  producer  except  China,  where  the  poppy  is  grown 
illicitly  in  defiance  of  government  edicts.  In  addition,  she  is  a large  con- 
sumer of  her  own  native  grown  opium. 

The  World  Opium  Problem 

World’s  Medical  Requirements:  approximately  350  tons. 

World’s  Total  Production:  minimum  estimate — 3,500  tons  a year. 

The  problem  may  be  briefly  put : The  world’s  medical  requirements 
for  opium  are  approximately  350  tons  a year.  The  total  world  production 
is  at  least  ten  times  this  amount.  The  surplus,  anywhere  from  3,000  tons 
up,  is  used  (1)  for  smoking  purposes  in  the  Far  East,  especially  in 
China  and  in  the  British,  French,  Dutch  and  Portuguese  colonies  of  the 
East;  (2)  for  eating,  in  India,  and  (3)  for  illicit  trade  in  the  smoking 
opium  markets  of  the  East  and  the  drug  markets  in  the  West.  Four 
countries  produce  the  bulk  of  the  world’s  opium.  Two  of  these,  India 
and  China,  produce  a low-grade  opium  used  almost  entirely  for  smoking 
and  eating  in  the  East.  China’s  entire  output  is  illegal;  approximately 
half  of  India’s  output  is  consumed  within  her  own  borders,  the  remainder 
is  exported  on  government  order  for  smoking.  The  other  two  pro- 
ducing countries,  Turkey  and  Persia,  grow  a high-grade  opium  suitable 
for  manufacture  into  drugs.  This  is  exported  freely  without  government 
control.  One  of  them,  Turkey,  sends  virtually  all  of  her  opium  to 
Europe,  America  and  Japan  for  the  manufacture  of  drugs.  The  other, 
Persia,  sends  part  of  her  opium  to  the  West  for  drug  manufacture  and 
part  to  the  East  for  smoking  purposes.  Thus,  the  problem  has  two 
distinct  phases — the  smoking  and  eating  problem  of  the  East,  the  drug 
problem  of  the  West. 

Both  aspects  of  the  problem  were  recognized  in  the  international  con- 
vention signed  at  the  Hague  in  1912.  Smoking  opium  was  to  be  progress- 
ively reduced  but  the  time  was  left  to  the  governments  concerned,  i.  e.,  to 
China  and  to  the  colonies  of  the  western  powers.  Opium  eating  as  it  exists 
in  India  was  not  touched  by  the  treaty,  but  production  of  raw  opium  was 
to  be  controlled  by  laws  and  regulations  adopted  by  the  producing  coun- 
tries adhering  to  the  treaty.  The  traffic  in  drugs  was  likewise  to  be  con- 
trolled by  legislation  adopted  and  enforced  by  the  manufacturing  and  con- 
suming countries.  India  through  Great  Britain’s  signature  was  bound  by 
this  Hague  Convention.  Due  to  the  world  war  the  Convention  did  not 
come  into  effect  until  after  the  peace  treaties  were  signed,  and  it  was  a 
year  or  two  later  before  its  provisions  were  enforced  by  the  different 
countries. 


4 


The  Position  of  India  at  the  Geneva  Conferences,  1924-25. 

Somewhat  more  than  a year  ago  India,  together  with  most  of  the 
other  principal  countries  of  the  world  including  the  United  States,  par- 
ticipated at  the  opium  conferences  which  met  at  Geneva  to  extend  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Hague  Convention.  The  story  of  the  conferences  has  been 
told  before.  But  the  position  of  India  at  Geneva  is  essential  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  changes  which  are  taking  place  today. 

At  the  Geneva  conferences  the  United  States  proposed  an  agreement : 

1.  To  limit  all  production  to  medical  and  scientific  needs. 

2.  To  suppress  opium  smoking  in  the  East  within  ten  years. 

3.  To  control  the  traffic  in  drugs  through  an  international  Central 
Board  with  powers  to  review  the  annual  statistics  of  opium  manufacture, 
import,  export,  etc. 

India  was  only  concerned  with  the  first  two  proposals.  As  her 
official  position  is  given  in  detail  in  Annex  IV  it  is  sufficient  here  to 
indicate  the  high  spots.  In  regard  to  limiting  production  to  medical 
needs,  India  was  willing  to  accept  strict  regulation  of  production 
for  export,  but  she  held  that  production  for  use  in  India  was  a matter 
of  domestic  concern.  She  contended  that  opium  eating  was  an  old 
established  Indian  practice,  necessary  because  of  the  inadequate 
medical  facilities  in  many  country  districts.  She  held  further  that 
opium  was  not  subject  to  abuse  in  India,  that  it  was  “legitimate” 
under  the  terms  of  the  Hague  Convention,  and  useful  as  a remedy  for 
many  ills.  This  was  in  harmony  with  the  traditional  policy  of  the 
Government  of  India.  (In  1921  a resolution  was  submitted  to  the  League 
Assembly  by  Wellington  Koo  calling  for  an  investigation  as  to  the  needs 
of  the  world  on  a medical  and  scientific  basis.  Mr.  Sastri,  the  Indian 
member  of  the  Government  of  India  delegation,  moved  to  amend  the 
resolution  by  replacing  the  word  “legitimate”  instead  of  the  phrase 
“medical  and  scientific.”  “Legitimate”  as  used  in  the  1912  Hague  Con- 
vention gave  room  for  the  smoking  and  eating  of  opium.  This  incident 
caused  much  unfavorable  comment  among  those  interested  in  the  pro- 
gress of  opium  reform,  especially  in  the  United  States.*) 

The  representatives  of  India  at  the  conferences  in  1924-25  explained 
the  system  of  government  control  on  frequent  occasions.  They  stated, 
first,  that  production  and  export  of  all  opium  grown  in  India  is  under 
direct  control  of  the  central  government.  The  poppy  is  grown  under 
government  monopoly,  and  the  entire  output  is  bought  by  the  govern- 
ment and  transported  to  a government  factory  at  Ghazipur.  Here  it 
is  prepared  into  opium  for  export,  known  as  “provision  opium,”  and 
opium  for  home  consumption,  “excise  opium”.  Export  opium  is  sent 
only  to  those  governments  who  certify  that  it  is  required  for  “legitimate” 
use.  (Smoking  is  legitimate  under  the  Hague  Convention.)  Indian 
opium  is  seldom  used  for  drug  manufacture,  and  hence  does  not  affect  the 


*Mr.  Sastri  stated  his  personal  attitude  on  the  matter  in  a recent  cable,  as  follows:  “Inquiry 
proves  existence  of  evil  not  in  rural  tracts  where  it  cannot  be  reached,  but  in  Assam,  cities 
and  industrial  areas  where  it  should  yield  to  regrulation.  Legislatures  can  be  roused  to 
adopt  measures  and  registration  and  rationing  and  authorized  medical  prescription.  British 
India  shows  steady  diminution  of  acreage  under  poppy.  Indian  states  must  follow  good 
example.  Central  Government  instead  of  exporting  blindly  according  to  foreign  govern- 
ments’ certificates,  now  refuses  where  it  suspects  improper  use.  Stimulation  of  world 
opinion  from  Geneva  therefore  attended  with  beneficial  result.  Need  of  concentrating  on 
China  greater  than  ever,  else  improvement  in  world  position  largely  illusory.” 

5 


drug  markets  of  the  United  States.  The  strict  control  of  exports  by 
the  Government  of  India  has  reduced  smuggling  to  a minimum. 
Second,  the  opium  used  in  India  is  sold  by  the  central  government  to  the 
provincial  governments,  by  whom  it  is  distributed  through  licensed 
shops  and  vendors.  Thus,  it  was  pointed  out  by  the  Indian  delega- 
tion, control  of  the  use  within  India  is  in  the  hands  of  the  provincial 
legislatures,  and  not  the  central  government. 

Claiming  that  there  was  comparatively  little  smoking  within  her 
borders,  India  maintained  that  the  question  of  smoking  opium  must 
be  settled  by  the  governments  of  the  countries  concerned.  But  she 
stated  that  she  was  ready  to  cut  off  her  exports  to  any  country 
which  did  not  want  opium.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  pointed  out 
that  the  Government  of  India  was  willing  to  fill  the  orders  of  all 
governments,  even  though  she  knew  those  governments  were  taking 
no  measures  to  suppress  the  traffic  in  smoking  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Hague  Convention. 

So  much  for  the  problem  and  India’s  position  at  the  time  of 
the  Geneva  meetings.  The  result  of  the  conferences  is  well  known. 
No  agreement  could  be  reached  on  reduction  of  production  to  medical 
needs.  The  ten  year  period  for  suppression  of  smoking  opium  was 
extended  to  fifteen  years,  and  made  contingent  on  control  of 
smuggling  from  China  and  other  producing  countries.  The  United 
States  and  China  withdrew  before  the  conferences  ended,  but  the  other 
countries  completed  and  signed  two  treaties,  one  dealing  with  smoking 
opium,  the  other  regulating  control  of  drugs. 


6 


PART  I. 


INDIA’S  NEW  EXPORT  POLICY— 1926 

INDIA’S  decision  to  stop  exporting  opium  to  countries  where  it  is  used 
for  smoking  purposes  is  not  an  isolated  event.  The  new  policy  an- 
nounced by  Lord  Reading,  February  9,  1926,  before  he  retired 
as  Viceroy  of  India,  and  approved  by  unanimous  vote  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  on  March  18,  is  a culmination  of  a 
series  of  reforms  enacted  during  the  past  twenty  years. 

End  of  the  China  Trade 

Unrestricted  trade  in  opium  came  to  an  end  in  1907  when  India 
agreed  to  abolish  the  notorious  China  trade.  Early  in  the  following 
year  the  Government  of  India  concluded  an  agreement  with  China 
calling  for  a reduction  of  her  exports  to  China  by  ten  per  cent  each 
year  for  ten  years  pari  passu  with  China’s  reduction  of  poppy  cultiva- 
tion within  her  own  borders.  In  1913  China  had  made  such  progress 
in  effectively  suppressing  production  that  India  discontinued  her 
export  without  waiting  for  the  expiration  of  the  period  agreed  upon. 
In  cutting  off  the  China  trade  which  had  reached  vast  proportions 
during  the  later  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  India  sacrificed  an 
annual  revenue  of  approximately  four  million  pounds  a year.  Al- 
though opium  production  has  been  revived  on  a large  scale  in  China 
since  1917,  India  has  never  attempted  to  renew  her  opium  trade  with 
that  country. 


Agreements  With  Importing  Countries 

Beginning  in  1915  India  inaugurated  a further  check  on  opium  by 
restricting  the  Calcutta  auctions,  where  opium  had  been  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder  with  no  questions  asked,  and  by  entering  into  agree- 
ments with  the  governments  of  importing  countries  for  the  direct 
supply  of  the  bulk  of  the  opium  requirements  of  those  countries.  In 
adopting  this  policy  India  made  the  governments  ordering  her  opium 
directly  responsible  for  limiting  their  imports  to  the  requirements 
of  the  territories  under  their  control,  and  for  the  prevention  of  re- 
export. But  India  was  still  perfectly  willing  to  ignore  the  fact  that  gov- 
ernment orders  for  smoking  opium  were  increasing,  rather  than  “pro- 
gressively decreasing”  as  the  Hague  Convention  required. 

Import  Certificate  System 

The  policy  of  concluding  direct  agreements  with  governments  was 
carried  a step  further  after  the  Hague  Convention  was  generally  executed, 
following  the  world  war.  The  Convention  stipulated  that  the  powers 
should  take  measures  “to  prevent  the  export  of  raw  opium  to 

■'  7 


countries  which  have  prohibited  its  entry”  and  to  bring  about  “the 
gradual  and  effective”  suppression  of  smoking  opium.  When  the 
Advisory  Committee  on  Opium  was  created  by  the  League  of  Nations 
to  administer  the  provisions  of  the  Hague  Convention  it  inaugurated 
at  one  of  its  first  meetings  a system  of  import  and  export  certificates 
designed  to  strengthen  the  Convention.  This  system  provided  that 
the  governments  importing  opium  or  drugs  issue  a certificate  for 
each  consignment  ordered,  stating  that  the  opium  or  drugs  in  ques- 
tion are  required  for  legitimate  purposes.  Exporting  governments 
were  not  to  authorize  any  shipment  except  on  receipt  of  a certificate 
from  the  importing  country.  The  system  was  approved  by  the 
Council  and  Assembly  of  the  League  in  1921  and  was  put  into  effect 
by  India  and  several  other  countries  in  1923.  By  the  following  year 
twenty-nine  countries  had  adopted  the  plan. 

Thus  at  the  time  of  the  Opium  Conferences  in  1925  India  had 
already  abolished  the  trade  with  China,  had  restricted  the  Calcutta 
auctions  and  had  regulated  her  exports  so  that  only  those  govern- 
ments placing  their  orders  directly  or  supplying  import  certificates 
were  authorized  to  receive  Indian  opium. 


Responsibility  Over  Exports 

Following  the  Geneva  conferences  one  more  important  change  in 
policy  was  made  by  India.  In  September,  1925,  the  Government  of 
India  announced  to  the  Indian  Legislature  that  they  were  willing  to 
accept  a measure  of  responsibility  even  for  exports  covered  by 
certificates  of  importing  governments.  That  is,  they  stood  ready  to 
prohibit  export  even  where  foreign  governments  furnished  a certifi- 
cate if  there  was  evidence  that  this  opium  escaped  from  government  con- 
trol into  the  hands  of  smugglers.  At  the  time  of  this  announce- 
ment the  Government  of  India  had  already  applied  this  policy  in 
two  cases.  Opium  was  refused  to  Persia  and  to  Macao,  a Portuguese 
colony  in  south  China,  during  1925  despite  the  fact  that  the 
governments  of  both  countries  had  requested  it.  According  to  the 
spokesman  for  the  Government  of  India,  this  policy  was  motivated 
by  a desire  to  show  the  world  that  India  stood  ready  to  carry 
out  her  obligations  under  the  Geneva  conventions  and  was  prepared 
to  take  stringent  measures  to  abolish  smuggling  of  Indian  opium  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  protocol  attached  to  the  Second  Convention.* 

The  situation  as  it  existed  following  Lord  Reading’s  announcement 
this  year  presented  a marked  contrast  to  that  existing  twenty  years 
ago.  The  contrast  is  graphically  illustrated  in  the  following  table: 


‘Paragraph  1 of  this  protocol  provided  that  opium  producing  countries  “take  such  measures 
as  may  be  required  to  prevent  completely,  within  five  years  from  the  present  date  (1925),  the 
smuggling  of  opium  from  constituting  a serious  obstacle”  to  the  suppression  of  smoking  opium 
in  countries  where  it  is  temporarily  authorized. 


8 


Quantity  of  Indian  Opium  Exported  from  British  India  by  Sea,  Both 
on  Government  and  on  Private  Account  to  Each  Eoreign  Country.* 


Destination  Quantity 

1905-06  1923-24 


China  (including  Hongkong  and  Macao) 

...6,720,980  lbs. 

. . 33,600  lbs. 

. . 34,300  lbs. 

Straits  Settlements  (British) 

...1,731,520  lbs. 

325,500  lbs. 

United  Kingdom 

. . . 59,780  lbs. 

East  Coast  of  Africa 

1,820  lbs. 

Mauritius  (British) 

5,600  lbs. 

Natal  (British) 

3,220  lbs. 

Ceylon  (British) 

. . . 25,060  lbs. 

Indo-China  (French) 

. . . 70,000  lbs. 

379,400  lbs. 

East  Indies  (Dutch) 

...  107,800  lbs. 

126,000  lbs. 

Australia  

9,940  lbs. 

Persia  

..  55,440  lbs. 

Other  ronntries  

140  lbs. 

(including  North  Borneo,  Japan,  Siam)... 

. . . 75,320  lbs. 

Japan  

. . 14,000  lbs. 

Siam  

. . 229,000  lbs. 

North  Borneo  (British)  

. . 25,060  lbs. 

Total  export 

...8,811,040  lbs. 

1,217,440  lbs. 

Lord  Reading’s  Statement  of  Policy 
It  is  this  remaining  export  of  approximately  one  million  pounds  a 
year  which  India  intends  to  wipe  out.  The  statement  as  issued  by 
Lord  Reading,  and  later  by  government  members  in  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  intention  of  India  to  elimi- 
nate the  item  “Opium”  from  the  export  list.  Lord  Reading  said : 

“My  Government  have  recently  had  under  their  consideration  the 
adoption  of  a new  policy  regarding  opium  which  is  in  accordance  with 
the  trend  of  opinion  in  a number  of  other  countries  and  also  with  the 
views  that  have  been  freely  expressed  in  some  quarters  on  different 
occasions  in  India.  We  have  very  carefully  examined  the  new  obliga- 
tions undertaken  by  us  under  Article  I of  the  protocol  to  the  conven- 
tion of  the  second  opium  conference  at  Geneva  to  take  such  measures 
as  may  be  required  to  prevent  completely,  within  five  years  from  the 
present  date,  the  smuggling  of  opium  from  constituting  a serious 
obstacle  to  the  effective  suppression  of  the  use  of  prepared  opium. 

“As  a result,  we  have  come  to  fulfill  our  international  obligations  in 
the  largest  measure,  and  to  obviate  complications  that  may  arise  from 
the  delicate  and  invidious  task  of  attempting  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the 
internal  policy  of  other  Governments  it  is  desirable  we  should  declare 
publicly  our  intention  to  reduce  progressively  the  exports  of  opium 
from  India,  so  as  to  extinguish  them  altogether  within  a definite 
period,  except  as  regards  the  exports  of  opium  for  strictly  medical  pur- 
poses. The  period  to  be  fixed  has  not  yet  been  finally  determined,  as 

*From  Statistical  Abstract  for  British  India,  Fifty-Eighth  Number. 

9 


before  arriving  at  a decision  it  is  necessary  to  consult  the  Government 
of  the  United  Provinces  regarding  the  effects  that  the  resulting  reduc- 
tion in  the  area  cultivated  with  opium  will  have  on  the  cultivators  in 
the  province.” 

In  the  Council  of  State  at  Delhi  on  March  18th,  Mr.  McWatters 
moved  an  official  resolution:  “That  this  Council  recommends  to  the 
Governor  General  in  Council  that  immediate  steps  should  be  taken  to 
give  effect  to  the  policy  of  progressively  reducing  the  exports  of  opium 
from  India  except  for  strictly  medicinal  or  scientific  purposes  so  as  to 
extinguish  them  altogether  within  a definite  period.” 

An  identical  resolution  was  introduced  the  same  day  by  Sir  Basil 
Blackett,  the  Finance  Member,  in  the  Legislative  Assembly.  It  was 
passed  by  both  houses. 

Clearly  this  marks  a long  step  in  advance.  The  new  policy  was  un- 
dertaken wholly  on  the  initiative  of  the  Government  of  India  but  it 
was  fully  discussed  by  the  British  Cabinet  and  obviously  met  with 
approval  in  London.  The  one  important  question  remaining  is  how 
long  will  India  take  to  cut  off  the  export  trade.  In  the  official  resolu- 
tions the  period  of  years  is  left  undefined  as  it  is  naturally  contingent 
on  the  substitution  of  other  crops  in  the  opium  growing  districts  and 
on  further  agreements  with  the  Native  Indian  States  over  which  the 
Government  of  India  ostensibly  exercises  no  control.  These  Native 
States  which  are  shown  in  the  map  on  the  last  page  produce  large  quanti- 
ties of  opium  a part  of  which  is  purchased  by  the  government.  If  the 
requirements  of  the  Government  of  India  are  cut  approximately  ir. 
half  by  elimination  of  the  export  trade,  it  is  obvious  that  purchases 
from  the  Native  States  must  be  curtailed.  Whether  or  not  the  Native 
States  will  accept  a drastic  cut  in  this  lucrative  source  of  revenue 
remains  to  be  seen.  Some  arrangement,  however,  must  be  made  with 
the  Native  States  before  complete  suppression  of  the  export  trade  can 
be  brought  about.  A further  factor  is  the  loss  of  revenue  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India  which  will  reach  approximately  £1,333,000.*  This 
loss,  however,  will  be  spread  over  the  period  of  years  during  which 
the  exports  are  being  diminished  and  will  be  met,  according  to  the 
government,  either  by  increased  taxation  or  decreased  expenditure. 

What  will  be  the  effect  of  this  new  policy  on  the  status  quo  in  the 
East?  Referring  to  the  Table  of  Exports  given  above,  there  are  seven 
countries  still  receiving  Indian  opium  today : Hongkong,  Straits  Set- 
tlements, Indo-China,  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  Siam,  North  Borneo, 
and  Japan;  Persia  and  Macao  have  been  taken  from  the  list  since  1924. 
The  entire  supply  is  used  for  smoking  purposes  in  the  countries  re- 
ceiving it,  except  in  the  case  of  Japan  where  part  is  manufactured  into 
drugs  and  part  used  for  smoking  in  Formosa.  In  every  case  it  is 
ordered  directly  by  the  governments,  Indo-China,  the  last  country  to 
buy  at  the  Calcutta  auctions,  having  concluded  an  agreement  with 
India  during  the  past  few  months.  Furthermore,  all  of  the  British 
colonies  and  most  of  the  other  countries  listed  above  draw  the  great 
bulk  of  their  opium  supply  for  smoking  purposes  from  India.  Under 
the  agreement  concluded  at  Geneva  these  countries  are  pledged  to 


•An  estimate  submitted  by  Sir  Basil  Blackett,  the  Finance  Member,  in  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly. March  18,  1926. 


10 


suppress  smoking  opium  within  fifteen  years  from  the  time  that  pro- 
ducing countries  prevent  the  danger  of  smuggling  from  constituting 
an  obstacle  to  such  suppression.  In  plain  terms,  this  ambiguous 
phraseology  refers  to  China  and  to  a lesser  degree,  Persia.  All  of  the 
opium  smoking  countries  at  the  Geneva  conferences  contended  that 
vast  quantities  of  opium  produced  illegally  in  China  were  smuggled 
into  their  markets,  preventing  effective  measures  of  control.  Although 
China  strenuously  protested  the  accuracy  of  this  contention,  the  opium 
smoking  countries  held  firmly  to  their  point,  refusing  to  undertake 
gradual  reduction  until  smuggling  had  ceased  to  be  an  obstacle. 

With  India  taking  measures  to  cut  off  their  supply,  the  smoking 
countries  are  faced  with  the  choice  of  abolishing  this  use  of  opium 
or  seeking  new  markets  from  which  to  purchase  their  supplies  abroad. 
What  markets  are  available?  The  only  remaining  legitimate  sources  are 
Persia  and  Turkey.  Persia  has  recently  declared  her  willingness  to 
limit  opium  production  to  medical  and  scientific  needs  if  she  is  given  satis- 
factory crop  substitution.  A League  of  Nations  commission  of  inquiry 
is  now  in  Persia  under  the  chairmanship  of  Mr.  Frederic  A.  Delano  of 
Washington  and  is  working  on  this  problem.  Despite  the  fact  that  Persia 
has  never  adopted  the  import  certificate  system,  and  has  not  controlled 
smuggling  from  her  gulf  ports,  it  is  possible  that  Persian  opium  will  be 
curtailed  before  many  years  have  passed.  Turkish  opium  has  seldom  been 
used  for  smoking  purposes,  its  high  morphia  content  making  it  peculiarly 
suited  for  drug  manufacture  in  Europe  and  America.  Unless  the 
amounts  produced  exceed  those  of  the  past  years  or  unless  Turkey 
seeks  the  new  markets,  it  is  unlikely  that  there  will  be  a sufficient  sur- 
plus to  meet  the  needs  of  the  smoking  opium  countries.  Neither  of 
these  countries,  therefore,  offers  a likely  substitute  for  India  as  a 
source  of  supply.  The  only  remaining  source  is  China  where,  as  we 
pointed  out,  the  entire  crop  is  illegal.  Unless  the  smoking  opium 
countries  are  prepared  to  face  the  criticism  which  would  be  bound  to 
follow  any  attempt  to  buy  the  contraband  Chinese  supplies,  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  see  how  they  can  long  continue  the  traffic. 

The  French,  Dutch  and  Portuguese  colonies  may  perhaps  be  able 
to  continue  for  a time  by  purchasing  the  Persian  opium  which  is  still 
sold  freely  in  the  East.  But  the  British  colonies,  if  they  seek  to  re- 
place the  Indian  supply,  must  face  the  possibility  of  severe  criticism 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  While  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that 
the  Government  of  India  consulted  the  colonies  or  the  Colonial  Office 
in  London  before  announcing  her  new  policy,  it  is  clear  that  India,  as 
far  as  Great  Britain  is  concerned,  has  shifted  the  responsibility  for 
suppression  of  the  smoking  opium  trade  directly  to  the  colonies.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  how  the  British  colonies  can  avoid  shaping  their 
policy  to  harmonize  with  that  of  India.  What  the  governments  of 
France,  Holland,  and  Portugal  will  do  remains  an  open  question.  But 
as  a result  of  India’s  action,  public  opinion  the  world  over  will  look  to 
these  countries  for  the  termination  of  the  traffic  in  smoking  opium. 


11 


PART  II. 


OPIUM  CONSUMPTION  IN  INDIA 

OF  equal  importance  with  the  question  of  opium  exports  is  that  of 
opium  consumption  within  the  borders  of  India.  But  unlike  the 
former  it  is  a purely  domestic  question  for  which  India  alone  is 
responsible.  Although  opium  production  in  India  and  the  other  producing 
countries  was  held  to  be  a matter  of  international  concern  at  the  opium 
conferences  in  Geneva,  it  was  generally  agreed  that  the  use  in  India 
was  a subject  which  could  be  settled  by  that  country  alone. 

Position  of  Government  of  India  on  Opium  Consumption 

The  history  of  opium  consumption  in  India  dates  back  more  than 
three  hundred  years.  When  and  how  the  practice  of  opium  eating 
was  introduced  in  India  is  not  known.  But  when  the  British  took 
over  political  control  they  found  the  practice  firmly  established  in 
rnany  sections  of  the  country.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  that  pro- 
hibition was  not  possible  and  began  building  up  a system  of  regulat- 
ing production  and  restricting  consumption.  They  adopted  the  slogan 
“maximum  of  revenue  with  minimum  of  consumption,”  and  progres- 
sively increased  the  rates  with  a view  to  diminishing  the  demand.  It 
is  unnecessary  here  to  trace  the  various  laws  and  regulations  enacted 
by  the  Government  of  India  from  1826  until  1893  when  a Royal  Com- 
mission was  sent  to  investigate  the  whole  question  of  opium  con- 
sumption in  India.  During  the  thirty  odd  years  which  have  followed, 
the  Government  of  India  has  made  the  report  of  the  Royal  Commis- 
sion the  corner  stone  of  its  opium  policy.  The  Commission  reported, 
and  the  Government  of  India  has  steadfastly  maintained,  “that  the 
opium  habit  as  a vice  scarcely  exists  in  India,  that  opium  is  exten- 
sively used  for  non-medical  and  semi-medical  purposes  in  some  cases 
with  benefit  and  for  the  most  part  without  injurious  consequences ; 
that  the  non-medical  uses  are  so  interwoven  with  the  medical  uses 
that  it  would  not  be  practicable  to  draw  distinction  between  them,  and 
that  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  growth  of  the  poppy  and  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  opium  in  British  India  should  be  prohibited  except 
for  medical  purposes.”  The  government  has  further  maintained  that 
opium  “is  in  virtually  universal  use  throughout  India  as  the  common- 
est and  most  treasured  of  the  household  remedies  accessible  to  the 
people.”  They  have  held  that  it  is  taken  to  avert  fatigue,  as  a prophy- 
lactic against  malaria,  and  to  allay  pain  in  sufferers  of  all  ages ; that 
in  many  sections  of  the  country  medical  practitioners  are  unavailable 
and  the  bulk  of  the  people  are  dependent  almost  entirely  on  opium  for 
relief.  Thus  the  Government  of  India  has  maintained  that  opium  is 
not  generally  abused  and  that  it  fills  a “legitimate”  need  of  the  people. 

This  was,  in  effect,  the  position  taken  by  India  at  the  Hague  Con- 
ference of  1912  and  later  at  the  meetings  of  the  League  of  Nations 
Advisory  Committee  on  Opium  and  the  International  Opium  Confer- 

12 


ences  held  at  Geneva  in  1924-25.  In  explanation  of  the  policy  pursued 
by  India  the  representatives  of  that  country  at  the  Geneva  confer- 
ences presented  long  and  detailed  memoranda.  These,  together  with 
the  verbal  statements  of  the  representatives  of  the  Government  of 
India,  have  been  summarized  in  the  report  of  the  delegation  which 
we  quote  in  part  in  Annex  IV. 

Position  of  Indian  Opinion  on  Opium  Consumption 

During  the  past  few  years  and  particularly  in  the  months  immedi- 
ately following  the  Geneva  conferences,  a strong  public  opinion  in 
regard  to  opium  consumption  has  developed  in  India.  Evidence  of 
this  opinion  is  clearly  reflected  in  the  following  important  develop- 
ments : 

(1)  The  Debates  on  Opium  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  in  March 
1925  and  March  1926.  Both  discussions,  which  covered  the  whole 
question  of  production,  export  and  internal  use,  followed  the  introduc- 
tion by  Dr.  S.  K.  Datta  of  a motion  to  reduce  the  Demand  “Opium” 
by  one  hundred  rupees.  This  was  merely  a nominal  reduction  put 
forward  in  order  to  bring  about  a full  discussion  of  the  opium  problem. 
It  was  marked  by  a strong  attack  on  the  policy  of  the  Government  of 
India  in  which  many  Indian  members  took  part,  and  a statement  of 
policy  by  Sir  Basil  Blackett,  the  representative  of  the  government. 

(2)  The  Publication  of  the  Assam  Congress  Opium  Inquiry  Re- 
port. The  committee  was  headed  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Andrews,  and  was 
composed  largely  of  Indians.  The  report  has  made  available  much 
new  and  valuable  material  regarding  consumption  of  opium,  both  by 
smoking  and  by  eating,  throughout  Assam. 

(3)  Private  and  Semi-Official  Investigations.  These  included 
those  made  by  the  National  Christian  Council  of  India,  Burma  and 
Ceylon,  and  resulted  in  fresh  evidence  regarding  opium  consumption 
in  many  of  the  provincial  districts  of  India. 

For  purposes  of  clarity  the  new  information  made  available  as  a 
result  of  these  recent  inquiries  is  treated  here  as  a whole.*  By  far 
the  most  interesting  part  of  this  information  is  that  which  deals  with 
the  relative  figures  for  opium  consumption  in  all  the  districts  of  British 
India.  The  figures  are  based  on  official  government  statistics  for 
1922-23.  They  were  presented  for  the  first  time  by  Dr.  Datta  in  the 
Legislative  Assembly  in  March,  1925.  They  put  an  entirely  new  com- 
plexion on  the  whole  problem  of  internal  consumption  of  opium  in 
India. 

Analysis  of  Government  Figures  for  Opium  Consumption 

The  story  told  by  these  figures  is  graphically  presented  in  the  map 
on  the  last  page.  The  black  spots  in  Calcutta,  in  Assam,  in  parts  of  the 
Punjab,  and  in  Burma  show  where  opium  consumption  is  heaviest. 
The  shaded  areas  indicate  where  consumption  is  fairly  prevalent,  and 
the  white  areas  indicate  where  consumption  is  negligible.  Unnamed 
districts  are  shaded  according  to  the  average  of  the  province,  with  the 
exception  of  Bombay  where  the  rural  districts  are  indicated  as  falling 
below  the  average. 

•Extracts  from  the  speeches  delivered  in  the  Legislative  Assembly,  together  with  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Assam  Congress  Inquiry  Committee  and  tables  showing  consumption  in  all  the 
districts  of  British  India,  are  contained  in  the  annexes. 

13 


To  get  the  full  significance  of  the  figures  for  opium  consumption  in 
India,  a comparison  with  the  index  figure  laid  down  by  the  Joint 
Health  and  Opium  Committee  of  the  League  of  Nations  for  medical 
consumption  is  essential.  This  index  figure,  generally  accepted  as  a 
standard,  is  12  lbs.  per  10,000  population  per  annum.  That  is,  the 
average  consumption  for  medical  needs  is  12  lbs.  a year  for  each  10,000 
of  the  population.  Now  the  average  for  the  whole  of  India  is  24  lbs., 
exactly  double  the  League  of  Nations  figure.  But  this  average  does 
not  reveal  the  situation  as  it  actually  exists  because  large  sections  of 
the  country  fall  far  below  the  League  figure.  The  greatest  difference 
is  shown  in  the  figures  of  the  various  provinces  and  even  of  the  in- 
dividual districts  of  each  province. 

Referring  to  the  map,  the  black  spots  indicating  areas  of  highest 
consumption  are  relatively  few.  The  highest  consumption  is  in  Assam 
where  the  average  for  the  entire  province  is  104  lbs.  per  10,000  popula- 
tion. In  the  Sadiya  Frontier  Tract  on  the  northern  border,  with  a 
population  of  39,500,  the  index  figure  runs  up  to  474  lbs.  The  figure 
for  Lakhimpur  is  380  lbs.,  for  the  Balipara  Frontier  Tract  272  lbs., 
Nowgong  346  lbs.,  Sibsagar  220  lbs.,  Darrang  212  lbs.,  and  Kamrup 
91  lbs.  On  the  other  hand  in  the  southern  districts  the  figures  range 
from  less  than  2 Ihs.  in  Sylhet  to  38  lbs.  in  Cachar,  42  lbs.  in  the  Naga 
Hills,  and  83  lbs.  in  the  Khasi  and  Jaintia  Hills. 

In  Bengal,  adjacent  to  Assam,  the  average  is  16  lbs.,  but  the  figures 
for  practically  all  of  the  districts,  with  the  exception  of  Calcutta  and 
its  environs,  fall  far  below  the  12  lbs.  set  by  the  League.  In  fact, 
eleven  out  of  the  twenty-seven  districts  of  Bengal  show  a figure  be- 
low 6 lbs.,  and  eighteen  are  below  12  lbs.  Without  exception  the 
districts  showing  the  lowest  per  capita  consumption  are  rural  areas. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  figure  for  Calcutta  with  its  more  than  one 
million  industrial  inhabitants  rises  to  287  lbs. 

Following  the  map  south  from  Bengal  through  the  provinces  border- 
ing on  the  east  coast  and  north  to  Bombay  on  the  west  coast,  one  finds 
black  spots  marking  highest  consumption  in  Balasore,  Puri  and 
Cuttack,  Ganjam,  Godavari,  Madras,  and  the  industrial  centers 
throughout  Bombay.  The  figure  for  Balasore  is  110  lbs.  while  the 
average  for  the  provinces  of  Behar  and  Orissa  is  only  16  lbs.  The 
figure  for  Ganjam  is  45  lbs.,  Godavari  134  lbs.,  Madras  52  lbs.,  and 
Bombay  86  lbs.  The  average  for  the  districts  surrounding  these  points 
of  highest  consumption  is  relatively  low,  in  fact,  throughout  the  larger 
part  of  the  province  of  Madras  the  figures  are  far  below  12  lbs.  and 
opium  eating  as  an  evil  can  scarcely  be  said  to  exist  at  all.  In  explana- 
tion of  the  high  consumption  in  Godavari  and  Balasore,  Dr.  Datta  has 
pointed  out  that  large  numbers  of  coolies  migrate  from  these  coastal 
districts  to  Calcutta,  Assam  and  Burma,  where  they  acquire  the  opium 
habit,  and  on  returning  continue  the  practice  of  eating. 

In  the  province  of  Bombay  the  average  figure  is  44  lbs.  with  Panch- 
Mahals  125  lbs.  The  points  of  highest  consumption  are  the  cities  of 
Bombay  86  lbs..  Broach  102  lbs.,  Hyderabad  104  lbs.,  Karachi  93  lbs. 
and  Ahmedabad  89  lbs.  with  large  industrial  populations.  The  rural  dis- 
tricts, particularly  in  the  south,  show  relatively  low  figures. 

In  the  northern  provinces  of  the  Punjab,  North  Western  Frontier 
Province,  and  the  United  Provinces,  the  average  is  fairly  high.  The 

14 


figure  for  the  Punjab  is  24  lbs.  with  the  points  of  highest  consump- 
tion in  Ferozepore  120  lbs.,  Lahore  80  lbs.,  Amritsar  43  lbs.,  Ambala 
53  lbs.  and  Ludhiana  98  lbs. 

The  average  for  the  Lfnited  Provinces  is  just  over  the  12  lb.  figure 
set  by  the  League  of  Nations.  Most  districts  in  the  United  Provinces 
fall  below  this.  The  lowest  have  an  index  figure  of  2 lbs.  The  highest 
figures  in  the  United  Provinces  are  Benares  64  lbs.,  Cawnpore  58  lbs. 
and  Lucknow  39  lbs.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  low  average  of  the 
United  Provinces  in  view  of  the  fact  that  practically  all  of  the  opium 
in  British  India  is  grown  here. 

The  North  Western  Frontier  Province  shows  an  average  of  20  lbs. 
with  the  district  of  Peshawar  40  lbs.,  the  highest  point.  Baluchistan 
has  an  average  of  12  lbs.,  and  Ajmere-Marwara  shows  a figure  of 
105  lbs.  which  is  significant  in  view  of  its  proximity  to  the  states  of 
Rajputana  where  the  opium  habit  is  established. 

In  the  Central  Provinces  and  Berar  the  average  is  32  lbs.  which  is 
higher  than  the  surrounding  provinces.  Many  districts,  however,  fall 
below  the  League  figure,  while  the  points  of  highest  consumption 
are  Badilana  70  lbs.,  Akola  66  lbs.,  Amraoti  60  lbs.,  and  Balaghat  46 
lbs.  The  lowest  figure  is  in  the  district  of  Damoh  where  the  consump- 
tion is  6 lbs. 

The  average  for  Burma  is  57  lbs.  This  province,  with  a large  Chinese 
population,  is  the  only  one  in  British  India  where  most  of  the  districts 
conform  reasonably  to  the  average.  Three  districts  show  figures  be- 
low 20  lbs.,  eight  below  60  lbs.,  and  thirteen  between  60  and  100  lbs. 
The  points  of  highest  consumption  are  Katha  111  lbs.,  Tavoy  130  lbs., 
Rangoon  218  lbs.,  and  in  Mergui,  where  the  large  tin  mines  are  located, 
it  is  294  lbs. 

The  Problem  in  Native  States 

The  above  figures  cover  all  of  the  provinces  of  British  India.  There 
remain  the  Native  States:  Kashmir,  Nepal  and  Bhutan  on  the  north, 
Rajputana  and  the  Central  India  Agency  in  the  interior,  and  Hydera- 
bad, Mysore  and  Travancore  in  the  south.  These  states  are  not  under 
direct  control  of  the  Government  of  India  and  consequently  no  figures 
are  available  showing  either  production  or  consumption.  A certain 
quantity  of  the  opium  produced  in  the  Native  States,  however,  is  pur- 
chased by  the  Government  of  India  under  agreements  with  the 
separate  states,  and  precautions  are  taken  against  smuggling  into 
British  India.* 

What  is  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  these  figures  for  opium 
consumption  within  British  India?  In  the  first  place  it  is  clear  that 
the  abuse  of  opium  is  rare  in  a large  part  of  India.  Opium  addiction 
as  such  does  not  exist  in  many  sections  of  the  country.  At  the  same 
time  the  traditional  defense  made  for  the  existing  policy  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India,  namely,  that  opium  is  necessary  as  a household 
remedy  in  view  of  the  scarcity  of  medical  assistance  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, cannot  be  maintained  in  the  face  of  the  new  evidence,  which  we 
have  just  summarized.  For  it  is  precisely  in  the  urban  districts  and 
in  the  large  industrial  centers,  where  medical  assistance  is  readily 


•See  page  10. 


15 


available,  that  opium  consumption  is  highest.  Leaving  out  Assam, 
the  points  of  highest  consumption  are  confined  almost  entirely  to  the 
cities.  Furthermore,  contrary  to  the  statements  repeatedly  made  by 
representatives  of  the  Government  of  India,  opium  smoking  as  well  as 
opium  eating  exists  as  an  evil  in  certain  sections,  notably  Assam. 

The  Problem  in  Assam 

This  brings  us  to  the  far  reaching  investigation  of  the  opium  prob- 
lem in  Assam,  the  results  of  which  are  embodied  in  the  Assam  Con- 
gress Opium  Inquiry  Report.  This  document  is  indispensable  to  those 
who  wish  to  study  the  problem  exhaustively.  It  contains  detailed  and 
accurate  information  together  with  many  practical  suggestions  which 
reflect  the  most  progressive  Indian  opinion. 

The  situation  in  Assam  differs  from  that  in  the  other  provinces  in 
British  India  in  that  opium  smoking  as  well  as  opium  eating  is  found 
among  the  Assamese  race  and  the  neighboring  hill  tribes.  Addiction 
is  not  prevalent  among  the  Indian  population,  which  is  in  a distinct 
minority.  The  Assamese  race  has  a large  mixture  of  Mongolian  blood 
in  its  veins.  Although  it  is  scarcely  true  that  only  the  Mongolians 
become  opium  addicts,  nevertheless  the  fact  remains  that  an  extremely 
high  percentage  of  the  Assamese  are  addicted  to  opium.  The  Govern- 
ment of  India  through  the  Excise  Department  has  for  many  years 
maintained  the  policy  of  “maximum  of  revenue  with  minimum  of  con- 
sumption.” The  Assam  Congress  Committee’s  Report,  however,  shows 
that  while  the  retail  price  of  opium  has  been  increased  year  by  year 
consumption  has  shown  no  material  reduction.  For  example,  the  price 
of  opium  in  1874  was  22  rupees  per  seer,  which  was  increased  to  65 
rupees  per  seer  in  1924.  At  the  same  time  opium  consumption  in 
Assam  was  1874  maunds  in  1875  and  1614  maunds  in  1920-21.  “In 
spite  of  this  steady  rise  in  the  price  of  opium,”  the  committee  reports, 
“We  have  already  seen  that  from  1881  to  1921  the  consumption  merely 
wavered,  now  going  up  and  now  going  down  according  to  the  pros- 
perity or  adversity  of  the  season.  So  neither  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  shops,  nor  the  raising  of  the  price  of  opium,  nor  the  change  in 
the  method  of  licensing,  had  any  appreciable  effect  on  the  consumption 
of  opium  in  the  Assam  villages  and  among  the  Hill  tribes.” 

Since  1921  there  has  been  a marked  reduction  in  the  amount  of 
opium  consumed  by  the  Assamese.  This  is  undoubtedly  due,  however, 
to  the  influence  of  the  temperance  movement  which  Gandhi  started 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  India  about  this  time.  As 
Mr.  C.  F.  Andrews  points  out,  “within  six  months  of  Mahatma 
Gandhi’s  visit  to  Assam,  when  he  took  up  opium  reform  decisively,  the 
consumption  dropped  suddenly  by  22  per  cent.”  The  situation,  how- 
ever, still  remains  critical  and  the  Assam  Congress  Committee  in  its 
recommendations  suggested  drastic  steps  to  eradicate  the  evil.  The 
committee  suggested  (1)  that  the  sale  of  opium  should  be  ultimately 
limited  to  medical  and  scientific  needs;  (2)  that  all  addicts  above 
the  age  of  forty  should  be  registered  and  put  on  a limited  ration ; 
(3)  that  addicts  under  forty  should  be  dealt  with  as  medical  patients; 
and  (4)  that  these  changes  should  be  carried  out  within  the  next  five 
years  after  which  opium  should  be  placed  on  the  list  of  poisons  under 
the  dangerous  drug  act.  No  official  move  has  been  taken  by  the 

16 


Government  of  India  or  the  Assam  Government  in  regard  to  the 
recommendations  of  the  committee.  Nevertheless,  the  findings  of  the 
committee  are  so  far  reaching  that  the  government  will  sooner  or  later 
be  forced  to  give  its  full  attention  to  the  situation. 

Review  of  Royal  Commission  of  1893 

To  return  to  the  opium  problem  throughout  British  India;  As  a 
result  of  these  revelations  both  in  Assam  and  the  other  provinces, 
Indian  leaders  interested  in  opium  reform  have  been  demanding  a 
thorough-going  review  of  the  findings  of  the  Royal  Commission  of 
1893.  Following  the  conferences  in  Geneva,  Dr.  Datta,  in  the  debate 
in  March,  1925,  asked  that  the  Government  of  India  appoint  a repre- 
sentative all-India  commission  of  inquiry  to  examine  the  situation  in 
the  light  of  the  new  evidence  available.  The  Government  of  India  at 
that  time  replied  that  the  question  of  reduction  of  opium  consumption 
within  the  borders  rested  with  the  local  governments.  The  new  con- 
stitution for  India  which  came  into  effect  in  1921  had  made  the  sale 
and  distribution  of  opium  in  all  provinces,  with  the  exception  of 
Assam,  a “transferred  subject;”  that  is,  a subject  over  which  the  local 
governments  through  their  representative  legislatures  exercised  con- 
trol. The  Government  of  India  maintained  that  the  initiative  for 
reduction  of  consumption  should  come  from  the  provincial  govern- 
ments themselves.  Sir  Basil  Blackett,  speaking  in  the  Legislative 
Assembly  in  reply  to  Dr.  Datta,  stated  that  “the  Government  recently 
circularized  the  local  governments  in  regard  to  this  question.  Attention 
was  drawn  to  some  prima  facie  evidence  which  has  been  produced  by 
some  investigators  of  the  abuses  of  opium  in  various  districts  and  the 
local  governments  have  been  asked  to  re-examine  the  question  and  to 
consult  with  the  Government  of  India  by  what  means,  whether  by 
some  special  inquiry  or  by  another  committee,  the  problem  should 
be  dealt  with.”  Sir  Basil  Blackett  went  on  to  say  that  in  his  own 
opinion  there  was  a good  deal  to  be  said  for  an  inquiry.  He  was  not  in 
a position,  however,  to  promise  that  such  an  investigation  would  be 
forthcoming.  In  March  of  this  year  Dr.  Datta  again  asked  the 
Government  of  India  what  it  intended  to  do  in  regard  to  a nation- 
wide investigation  and  what  had  been  the  result  of  the  correspond- 
ence with  the  local  governments.  Sir  Basil  Blackett  replied  that  “the 
opinion  of  the  local  governments  does  not  suggest  that  they  think 
that  there  is  any  occasion  for  a new  general  inquiry.”  He  went  on 
to  say  that  there  was  no  reason  for  a revision  of  the  conclusions  of 
the  Royal  Commission  Report.  He  said  that  he  was  not  in  a position 
to  say  what  further  steps  the  Government  of  India  would  take,  but  he 
intimated  that  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any  great  probability  that  a 
new  inquiry  would  be  undertaken. 

Thus  to  summarize  briefly,  the  Government  of  India  still  bases 
its  policy  on  the  obsolete  report  of  the  Royal  Commission  and  holds 
to  its  contention  that  the  local  governments  have  power  to  solve 
the  problem  if  they  so  desire.  That  the  local  governments  have  not 
taken  advantage  of  this  power  must  be  conceded.  It  can  scarcely 
be  said  that  many  Indian  leaders  in  the  provincial  legislatures  have 
taken  any  great  interest  in  opium  reform.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Government  of  India  has  done  little  to  assist  the  local  authorities. 

17 


Although  legally  the  initiative  may  lie  with  the  provincial  governments, 
yet  morally  the  responsibility  for  leadership  in  working  out  what  in 
many  districts  is  a real  social  evil,  lies  with  the  Government  of  India. 

Nevertheless,  Indian  opinion  is  generally  awakening  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  opium  problem.  In  June,  1924,  the  All-India  Congress 
Committee  unanimously  declared  “the  opium  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  India  is  altogether  contrary  to  the  moral  welfare  of  the 
people  of  India  and  other  countries.  The  A. -I.  C.  C.  is  further  of 
the  opinion  that  the  people  of  India  would  welcome  the  total  aboli- 
tion of  the  opium  traffic  for  purposes  of  revenue  and  is  also  of  the 
opinion  that  the  production  of  opium  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
medical  requirements  of  India.”  In  1925,  the  National  Christian 
Council  published  a valuable  report  containing  resolutions  adopted 
by  many  Indian  organizations  and  evidence  given  by  the  members 
of  the  Indian  Medical  Service,  missionary  doctors,  educators  and 
Indian  private  practitioners.  This  report  which  was  presented  at  the 
Opium  Conferences  at  Geneva  a year  ago  reflected  clearly  the 
strength  of  Indian  opinion  on  opium.  Furthermore,  the  demand  for 
a new  government  inquiry,  which  we  mentioned  above,  is  being  sup- 
ported by  a growing  number  of  influential  Indian  leaders. 

In  conclusion,  the  problem  of  internal  consumption  as  it  exists 
today  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows : There  are  certain  black 
spots  in  British  India  where  opium  addiction  is  extremely  high. 
These  areas  have  been  clearly  defined.  They  have  been  brought 
to  the  attention  of  both  the  Government  of  India  and  the  local  govern- 
ments. The  groups  in  India  advocating  opium  reform,  including  the  mis- 
sionary groups,  the  All-India  Congress  Committee  and  prominent 
political  leaders  are  advocating  that  the  Government  of  India  and 
the  provincial  councils  undertake  a fresh  inquiry  into  the  cause 
and  the  effects  of  opium  consumption  in  India.  Their  method  of 
bringing  about  reduction  to  medical  and  scientific  needs  is  by  first 
eliminating  the  exceedingly  high  consumption  which  still  exists  i^ 
certain  restricted  areas.  If  consumption  throughout  India  can  be 
brought  down  to  the  figure  set  by  the  League  of  Nations’  committee 
as  an  average  for  medical  purposes  the  problem  will  be  virtually 
solved. 

CONCLUSION 

In  considering  both  aspects  of  the  Indian  opium  question — export  and 
internal  consumption — much  progress  can  be  seen.  One  advance  can  be 
credited  to  native  Indian  leaders,  one  to  the  Government  of  India  sup- 
ported by  Indian  opinion. 

The  analysis  of  the  government  figures  of  opium  consumption  result- 
ing from  the  study  initiated  by  the  Opium  Research  Committee  of  the 
F.  P.  A.  clarifies  the  reason  for  some  of  the  divergence  between  native 
Indian  opinion  and  that  of  the  Government  of  India.  Government  officials 
had  before  them  averages  for  the  provinces  as  a whole,  and  an  average 
for  all  India.  These  averages,  many  claimed,  did  not  show  widespread 
addiction.  The  Indian  people  themselves  knew  from  first  hand  ex- 
perience, however,  that  there  was  grave  abuse  of  opium  in  India.  These 
two  statements  seemed  irreconcilable  and  resulted  almost  inevitably  in 
charges  of  inaccuracy  and  bad  faith  from  both  parties  to  the  controversy. 

18 


The  facts  as  shown  in  the  map  accompanying  this  pamphlet  make  clear 
how  misleading  are  averages  for  provinces  in  view  of  the  “black  spot” 
situation.  We  believe  that  this  analysis  which  had  not  before  been 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  government  nor  was  generally  known  to 
Indian  leaders,  points  the  road  to  the  solution. 

This  can  be  accomplished  only  by  an  aroused  and  active  public  opinion 
among  the  Indians,  expressed  through  action  by  the  Provincial  Legisla- 
tures, and  a sympathetic  support  by  the  Government  of  India  to  all  effort 
toward  this  end — a support  pledged  by  Lord  Hardinge  in  the  Assembly 
of  the  League  in  1923. 

It  is  indeed  encouraging  to  be  able  to  conclude  by  emphasizing  the 
great  advance  that  the  new  export  policy  of  India  signalizes  in  spite  of 
the  uncertain  position  of  the  Indian  Native  States.  Not  since  the  cessation 
of  the  China  trade  has  there  been  the  promise  of  such  a great  forward 
sweep  in  the  line  of  attack  against  both  the  smoking  of  opium,  which  was 
declared  an  abuse  in  the  Hague  Convention  in  1912,  and  also  against  that 
common  enemy  of  society,  the  opium  smuggler.  His  extinction  in  the 
East  can  surely  be  glimpsed,  though  still  somewhat  remote ! 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Central  Board  of  Control  as  outlined  in 
the  treaty  of  the  Second  Conference  at  Geneva,  1925,  his  confederate  in 
the  western  world,  who  manufactures  excessive  amounts  of  opium  deriv- 
itives  and  smuggles  them  not  only  through  Europe  and  America,  but 
also  to  the  East,  will  perforce  heed  the  handwriting  on  the  wall. 

HELEN  HOWELL  MOORHEAD 
WILLIAM  T.  STONE 


We  wish  to  acknowledge  our  debt  to  all  those  who  by  their  candid 
criticism  and  constructive  suggestions  have  helped  us  prepare  this  study. 
We  are  particularly  indebted  to  Professor  Joseph  P.  Chamberlain,  Head 
of  the  Legislative  Drafting  Research  Department,  Columbia  University; 
the  Reverend  William  Paton,  Secretary  of  the  National  Christian  Council 
of  India,  Burma  and  Ceylon;  and  the  Reverend  A.  L.  Warnshuis,  Secre- 
tary of  the  International  Missionary  Council.  The  attached  map  was 
prepared  for  this  pamphlet  by  Elizabeth  Batterham  of  the  F.  P.  A.  staff. 


19 


ANNEX  I 


AN  INDIAN  CRITIQUE  OF  THE  OPIUM  POLICY  OF  THE 
GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA 

Speech  by  Dr.  S.  K.  Datta  in  the  Indian  Legislative  Assembly, 
March  10,  1926 

OlIR,  I propose  a small  reduction  of  Rs.  100  to  call  attention  to  the 
opium  policy  of  the  Government  of  India.  At  the  very  outset  I 
feel  I ought  to  congratulate  the  Government  of  India  on  the  bold 
step  that  they  have  taken  in  restriction  of  the  export  trade.  Our  debate 
of  last  year,  I may  say,  was  not  wholly  useless.  I know  it  is  an  un- 
gracious thing  on  the  other  hand  to  look  a gift  horse  in  the  mouth.  I 
think  I will  take  the  risk  of  doing  that,  not  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Government  Benches,  but  possibly  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  be- 
lieve in  a theory  of  economic  determinism.  Sir,  the  interesting  fact  in 
regard  to  the  cultivation  of  Indian  opium  has  been  the  rise  in  the  cost 
of  production.  Between  the  years  1913  and  1914  the  cost  of  production 
of  a chest  of  opium  was  Rs.  632.  Between  1922  and  1923  the  cost  has  ■ 
risen  to  Rs.  1,270  a chest.  In  other  words,  the  cost  of  manufacturing 
a chest  of  opium  has  more  than  doubled.  What  are  the  reasons  for  this 
rise  in  price  ? The  Government  began  to  discover  that  they  could  not  get 
the  cultivator  to  grow  the  poppy  on  the  old  terms.  That  was  a cardinal 
feature  in  the  situation.  Mr.  C.  D.  Wild,  the  Opium  Agent  at  Ghazipur, 
on  18th  January,  1921,  wrote: 

“The  season  was  again  an  unfortunate  one  for  the  crop.  . . . the  yield  was 
disappointing.  This  misfortune  was  accentuated  as  wheat,  the  chief  com- 
peting crop,  did  not  suffer  and  gave  excellent  results. 

“The  thanks  of  the  Department  are  due  to  Mr.  H.  Young  and  Pandit 
Champa  Ram,  Special  Managers,  Court  of  Wards,  for  their  assistance  in 
inducing  the  men  on  their  estates  to  engage  for  poppy.  Quite  an  appreciable 
area  was  obtained  through  their  help.” 

I wonder  whether  these  excellent  gentlemen  were  remembered  in  the 
Honours  List.  We  also  find  the  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Revenue  in 
the  United  Provinces,  Mr.  C.  L.  Alexander,  writing  on  3rd  March, 
1921: 


“As  the  previous  year  had  been  an  unfortunate  one  and  cultivators  were  in 
need  of  money,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  settlement  would  have  been 
obtained  without  difficulty  for  the  full  area  required;  but  the  area  fell  short 
by  16.15  per  cent.  ...  an  average  return  of  Rs.  33.1  per  bigha.  . . . falls  very 
short  of  the  profit  obtainable  for  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  the  competing  crop. 
. . . It  is  satisfactory  that  the  price  of  opium  has  been  raised  again,  and  will 
in  future  be  Rs.  15  per  seer.  The  Board  hope  that  this  will  lead  to  a fuller 
area  being  obtained  next  year.” 


20 


The  price  given  to  the  cultivator  was  raised  from  Rs.  7-8-0  to  Rs.  15. 
But  this  factor  must  have  had  an  immediate  effect  on  the  price  of  opium 
in  the  Far  East,  that  is  the  Indian  monopoly  or  non-monopoly  opium  in 
the  Far  East.  There  was  another  factor  also  at  work  in  putting  up  the 
price  of  opium  in  the  Far  East,  and  that  was  exchange.  If  you  consider 
the  rates  between  India  and  Hongkong,  it  is  clear  that  100  dollars  equalled 
in  1919,  Rs.  215  and  in  1920-21,  Rs.  257.  Then  it  dropped  to  Rs.  218, 
181,  169  3/16  and  in  1924-25  to  Rs.  165  5/8.  In  other  words,  more 
dollars  were  required  to  purchase  the  same  quantity  of  Indian  opium 
and  the  price  of  Indian  opium  in  the  Far  East  was  raised.  There  was 
also  a third  factor  to  which  much  attention  was  paid  last  year,  though 
unfortunately  the  results  were  not  considered.  As  I read  the  debates  at 
the  Geneva  Conference,  whenever  China  was  mentioned  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Indian  Government  passionately  denounced  the  smuggling 
of  Chinese  opium  into  the  other  parts  of  the  Far  East.  I did  not  then 
quite  realize  why  there  was  so  much  heat  in  the  controversy.  Again  in 
the  proceedings  at  Geneva  there  was  another  thing  to  which  my  atten- 
tion was  directed.  The  representatives  of  certain  European  States  re- 
ferred to  monopolies  and  high  prices.  The  innuendo  was  that  the 
British  Government’s  determination  on  an  opium  monopoly  was  to  in- 
sure a high  price  and  thus  obtain  a very  substantial  profit  from  the  sale 
of  Indian  opium.  What  had  happened  was  this.  Chinese  opium  was 
getting  round.  The  price  of  smuggled  Chinese  opium  ruling  was  some- 
thing like  one-quarter  or  one-sixth  of  the  price  of  Indian  opium.  The 
tendency  of  Indian  prices  had  been  upwards ; the  tendency  of  Chinese 
opium  prices  had  been,  on  the  other  hand,  downwards.  In  other  words, 
the  Indian  Government  was  losing  its  Far  Eastern  trade.  A few  weeks 
ago  (early  this  Session)  I asked  the  Honourable  the  Finance  Member 
for  certain  statistics.  I asked  him  what  amounts  of  opium  were  sold  at 
the  auction  sales  in  Calcutta.  In  1922,  2,790  chests  were  offered  for 
sale  and  2,500  were  sold.  In  1923,  3,150  chests  were  offered  and  3,000 
were  sold.  In  1924,  3,000  were  offered  and  2,240  were  sold.  In  1925, 
3,000  were  offered  and  1,155  were  sold.  Now  the  curve  of  sales  of 
the  Indian  product,  at  least  through  auctions,  has  decreased. 

The  Honourable  Sir  Basil  Blackett;  Does  the  Honourable  Mem- 
ber realise  that  that  is  entirely  because  we  were  making  direct  agree- 
ments ? 

Dr.  S.  K.  Datta  ; Direct  agreements  ? The  quantities  thus  sold  have 
also  dropped,  and  may  I inquire  why  the  amounts  offered  at  the  auctions 
remained  almost  constant? 

The  Honourable  Sir  Basil  Blackett:  We  were  cutting  them. 

Dr.  S.  K.  Datta:  There  was  also  another  factor  in  the  situation 
which  probably  influenced  the  Indian  Government  in  its  decision  not  to 
continue  this  diminishing  trade,  and  that  was  the  possibility  of  a League 
of  Nations  Inquiry  Committee.  The  League  of  Nations  said  they  were 
going  to  send  out  a committee  to  see  whether  there  was  smuggling  of 
opium  in  countries  where  opium  is  produced,  and  whether  proper  regu- 
lations are  in  force  to  prevent  smuggling  from  those  countries.  Now, 
I do  not  know  if  that  was  a reason,  but  on  looking  into  the  facts  I 
wonder  whether  that  was  not  also  a factor  in  the  situation.  However, 

21 


the  great  thing  has  been  achieved.  We  have  at  least  been  told  that  a 
complete  extinction  of  the  foreign  traffic  has  been  decided  upon  and 
that  in  itself  is  a tremendous  gain  and  a step  for-ward. 

Now,  Sir,  I turn  again  to  the  debate  held  in  this  House  a year  ago. 
It  centered  round  the  internal  consumption  of  opium.  In  that  debate 
the  Honourable  the  Finance  Member  used  the  following  words,  which, 
to  my  mind  at  least,  constitute  a distinct  pledge  to  this  House.  He 
said : 


“But  I can  say  for  myself  that  my  own  view  coincides  entirely  with  that 
given  by  Mr.  Cosgrave  and  I think  that,  unless  strong  reasons  exist,  which 
I do  not  know  of,  some  kind  of  inquiry  to  review  the  conclusions  of  the 
Commission  of  1923  may  be  very  desirable.  I see  no  objection  to  it.  But 
I say  I am  not  in  a position  to  go  further  because  we  have  not  yet  received 
the  replies  of  the  Local  Governments.” 

Now,  what  has  been  done?  On  several  occasions  Members  of  this 
House  have  interpellated  the  Honourable  the  Finance  Member  regard- 
ing this  inquiry  into  the  internal  consumption  of  opium  in  India.  What 
has  been  the  result?  We  have  been  told  that  the  matter  is  still  being 
considered,  or  the  Local  Governments  were  being  consulted.  On  the 
27th  of  January  of  this  year  the  Honourable  the  Finance  Member  said 
that  the  replies  of  the  Local  Governments  to  the  reference  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India  regarding  the  consumption  of  opium  in  India  have 
been  received  and  are  now  under  careful  examination.  He  said  that  he 
was  not  in  a position  to  make  any  further  statement  at  present.  I won- 
der how  far  these  efforts  have  gone.  In  the  month  of  May — I think 
it  was  two  months  after  the  debate  in  this  House— I was  told  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  National  Qiristian  Council  that  he  had  addressed  one 
of  the  Local  Governments  regarding  this  matter.  He  told  the  Local 
Government  that  the  Honourable  the  Finance  Member  had  made  a par- 
ticular statement  in  this  House  regarding  a re-inquiry  into  the  problem 
of  the  internal  consumption  of  opium  and  he  asked  the  Local  Govern- 
ment what  their  attitude  would  be  with  regard  to  an  inquiry  of  this  kind, 
or  rather  he  commended  an  inquiry  of  this  kind  to  the  Local  Govern- 
ment. The  reply  of  the  Local  Government  was  that  they  never  heard 
about  this  debate  and  they  did  not  know  that  the  Honourable  the  Finance 
Member  had  made  a statement  regarding  opium.  They  asked  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  National  Christian  Council  to  supply  them  with  a copy  of 
this  debate.  Now,  Sir,  I do  not  know  how  it  happened.  It  may  per- 
haps be  a mere  accident.  I would,  however,  like  to  know  what  has 
exactly  been  done  and  where  do  we  stand  with  regard  to  this  inquiry. 
What  did  we  ask  for  last  year?  It  was  this: 

“An  examination  of  the  general  policy  of  Government  which,  so  far,  has 
been  based  on  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Opium  of  1893  to 
1895.” 

Now,  Sir,  some  points  were  put  forward  regarding  the  cultivation  of 
opium  crop  under  the  system  of  advances.  I have  already  read  out  some 
extracts  from  official  documents  regarding  certain  features  of  the  culti- 

22 


vation  of  the  opium  crop.  When  we  spoke  last  year  on  this  subject,  we 
referred  the  Government  to  the  question  of  an  inquiry  into  the  problem 
of  illicit  traffic  and  I believe  that  I quoted  what  was  then  the  evidence 
of  the  Excise  Commissioner  of  the  United  Provinces  Government  which 
he  gave  before  the  Taxation  Inquiry  Committee.  Today  we  are  also  in 
possession  of  the  Report  of  the  Taxation  Inquiry  Committee.  Their 
views  are  still  more  emphatic.  With  regard  to  the  cultivation  of  opium 
they  say: 

“The  cultivation  of  poppy,  though  now  restricted  in  British  India  to  a 
single  province,  is  carried  on  there  in  as  many  as  29  districts.  This  large 
dispersal  of  it  coupled  with  the  enormous  temptation  to  the  smugglers  which 
results  from  the  high  rates  of  duty  makes  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  ensure 
that  all  the  opium  is  brought  into  the  factories.” 


This  is  what  we  suspected.  They  go  on : 

“And  it  seems  to  be  desirable  to  secure  a large  concentration  of  cultivation 
even  if  this  results  in  an  increase  in  expenditure.” 

We  also  referred  last  year  to  the  illicit  traffic  from  Malwa.  I now 
ask  Government  whether  it  is  a fact  that  the  Excise  Department  of  the 
Central  India  Agency  was  asked  to  report  on  this  feature?  If  so,  with 
what  results?  Has  there  been  a report  on  this  matter  or  not?  An- 
other feature  of  the  illicit  traffic  is  the  enormous  amount  of  opium  that 
finds  its  way  into  the  smoking  dens  of  Calcutta.  We  are  told,  Sir,  that 
opium  is  under  a strict  control.  But  I would  ask  the  Honourable  the 
Finance  Member  to  visit  an  opium  den  in  Calcutta  when  he  next  goes 
there  and  see  how  that  strict  control  is  being  maintained.  If  you  go  to 
one  of  these  Chinese  clubs  you  will  find  people  with  their  pipes,  as  also 
a boy  who  attends  to  them  to  whom  they  pay  a sum  of  8 annas  for  the 
“prepared  opium.”  The  boy  is  constantly  bringing  in  opium  for  them 
and  thus  they  can  go  on  for  the  whole  night;  an  unlimited  quantity  of 
opium  is  evidently  available  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  its  sale  is  supposed 
to  be  under  restriction.  This  shows  that  there  is  need  for  a most  search- 
ing inquiry.  So  much  for  the  illicit  traffic  of  opium. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  another  feature  of  opium,  as  commented  upon  by 
the  Royal  Commission,  namely,  the  medicinal  uses  of  opium.  We  have 
been  told  that  opium  to  the  country  at  large  is  necessary  for  medicinal 
purposes.  Last  year  it  was  pointed  out  in  the  debate  that,  as  a matter 
of  fact,  the  highest  percentage  of  consumption  of  opium  was  in  areas 
where  medical  relief  was  available  and  lowest  in  remote  district  areas. 
But  evidence  is  accumulating  and  has  been  accumulating  for  the  last  30 
years  as  to  the  medicinal  use  of  opium.  The  Royal  Commission  itself 
said  that  the  matter  ought  to  be  investigated.  Probably  at  the  back  of 
somebody’s  mind  when  that  recommendation  was  drafted  was  the  idea 
that  certain  scientific  researches  had  been  undertaken  but  the  results 
were  not  then  known.  That  was  in  1895.  But  in  1898  the  first  re- 
searches of  the  Pasteur  Institute  became  available  to  the  public.  In 
Metchnikofif’s  laboratory  in  the  Pasteur  Institute  in  Paris  experiments 
were  made  by  a number  of  scientists.  The  results  of  these  experiments 

23 


are  highly  interesting.  They  appeared  in  English  in  a book  entitled 
“Immunity  in  Infectious  Diseases”  published  by  the  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity Press : 

“It  is  possible  to  immunize  guinea  pigs  against  cholera,  unless  treated 
with  opium.” 

The  reason  is  perfectly  clear.  The  narcotic  effect  on  the  phagocytes 
of  opium  retards  their  defensive  functions.  Here  in  India  we  have  a 
confirmation  of  this  from  Sir  Leonard  Rogers,  at  one  time  Professor  in 
the  Calcutta  Medical  College.  He  is  emphatic  in  his  denunciations.  He 
says  that  in  cholera  the  retention  of  toxins  formed  by  the  cholera  vibrio 
and  resulting  uraemia  is  often  brought  out  by  the  use  of  opium.  As  to 
dysentery,  malaria  and  kala-azar  there  is  recent  medical  evidence  in- 
corporated in  the  report  on  Opium  in  Assam  by  Special  Committee  of 
the  Indian  National  Congress  which  makes  it  clear  that  opium  is  useless 
in  these  conditions.  This  has  been  confirmed  by  eminent  authorities  such 
as  Manson  and  others.  With  regard  to  malaria  as  far  as  I can  see, 
according  to  present  day  medical  science,  there  is  not  an  iota  of  evidence 
that  it  is  either  curative  or  a prophylactic.  We  also  know  that  opium 
itself  produces  a peculiar  kind  of  diarrhoea  in  opium  eaters.  In  June 
of  last  year  the  Government  of  Assam  made  a public  report  on  the 
opium  position.  The  report  was  written  in  1913,  and  the  Committee 
was  presided  over  by  the  Honourable  Mr.  Botham.  In  the  report  the 
following  passage  appears : 

“Another  garden  in  which  large  opium  consumption  and  unhealthiness  go 
hand  in  hand  is  the  Namsing  division  of  the  Jaipur  Tea  Company.  The 
Manager  says,  ‘The  garden  is  on  the  ‘black  list’  and  I put  down  the  whole 
cause  to  opium.’  ” 

Opium,  it  is  true,  has  a certain  important  value,  but  hardly  any  of 
those  which  were  given  to  it  by  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission 
of  1893. 

The  next  point  on  which  we  seek  investigation- — and  more  and  more 
evidence  is  being  accumulated  in  regard  to  this — regards  the  effect  of 
opium  on  children.  We  observe  a very  high  infantile  death  rate  in  the 
city  of  Bombay.  In  the  industrial  areas  in  Bombay  it  was,  in  1917,  410 
per  thousand,  in  1918,  590  per  thousand,  in  1919,  552  per  thousand,  and 
in  1921,  667  per  thousand.  Take  another  industrial  city,  Ahmedabad. 
We  have  no  figures  for  1917-18,  but  in  1919  the  death  rate  of  infants 
under  one  year  was  363  per  thousand,  in  1920,  360  per  thousand  and  in 
1921,  348  per  thousand.  We  know  that  this  higher  death  rate  is  not 
wholly  caused  by  opium,  but  there  is  a considerable  drugging  of  children 
with  opium,  and  it  is  probably  a contributive  factor.  This  is  another 
matter  which  we  desire  to  see  investigated. 

Now,  Sir,  the  Government  of  India,  or  rather  the  Local  Governments 
of  India  are  completely  unable  to  make  up  their  mind  whether  they 
should  treat  opium  as  they  treat  alcoholic  liquor  on  the  one  hand  or  as 
a poison  on  the  other,  and  this  is  demonstrated  by  the  dilemma  in  which 

24 


the  responsible  departments  find  themselves.  A few  months  ago  the 
Bengal  Government  published  in  the  Calcutta  Gazette  draft  rules  which 
they  had  made  under  the  Indian  Poisons  Act,  for  the  control  of  par- 
ticular poisons.  Under  those  rules,  they  classified  poisons  under  three 
heads.  Schedule  A,  Schedule  B and  Schedule  C.  The  most  potent 
poisons  were  placed  in  Schedule  A,  the  less  potent  in  Schedule  B and 
the  least  potent  in  Schedule  C.  Rules  were  made  under  Schedule  A foi 
the  sale  of  drugs  included  in  it.  First  these  drugs  must  be  sold  by 
licensed  chemists,  secondly,  if  anyone  purchases  these  drugs  he  must 
give  his  name  and  address,  and  possibly  also  sign  the  chemist’s  poisons 
register,  or  put  his  thumb  mark.  The  particular  bottle  in  which  the 
drug  is  given  out  must  have  a particularly  coloured  label  wkh  the  word 
“Poison.”  It  must  also  bear  the  name  of  the  chemist  who  dispensed 
it,  and  the  chemist  has  discretion,  if  he  does  not  know  the  person,  to 
refuse  to  give  the  drug  at  all.  Now  classified  with  prussic  acid  and 
other  potent  poisons  I find  opium  included.  Opium  and  its  derivatives 
were  placed  in  Schedule  A as  being  dangerous  poisons.  On  the  other 
hand  the  rules  exclude  “excise  opium”  which  is  exempted.  A respect- 
able person,  that  is  to  say,  a person  of  intelligence  and  education,  who 
knows  what  a poison  is,  is  the  sort  of  person  who  usually  goes  to  a 
chemist  shop  and  asks,  say,  for  Chamberlain’s  Cough  Cure,  or  for  some 
more  or  less  innocuous  patent  medicine  with  a minute  quantity  of  opium 
in  it.  The  precautions  prescribed  by  Schedule  A for  the  sale  of  these 
drugs  are  applied.  On  the  other  hand  the  ignorant  labourer  enters  an 
excise  shop  and  buys  3 tolas  of  opium,  enough  to  poison  himself  and 
his  whole  family,  but  no  such  precautions  are  taken.  Government  will 
have  to  make  up  its  mind  whether  they  are  going  to  consider  opium  as 
a poison  or  not. 

Now,  Sir,  some  time  ago  I asked  questions  of  the  Army  Department 
with  regard  to  the  use  of  opium.  The  questions  and  the  replies  of  the 
Army  Department  were  as  follows ; 

“(a)  Are  Government  aware  that  during  the  late  War  opium  was  issued  by 
the  Supply  and  Transport  to  certain  Indian  personnel  when  on  active 
service  ? 

(b)  If  so,  will  Government  state  under  what  conditions  was  this  done? 

(c)  Will  Government  place  the  instructions  permitting  this  practice  on  the 
table  of  the  House? 

(d)  Will  Government  state  whether  these  instructions  are  still  in  force,  and, 
if  so,  is  Government  prepared  to  abolish  them?” 

The  answers  to  these  questions  were  as  follows : 

“(a)  Yes. 

(b)  It  was  supplied  as  a ration  on  payment  to  opium  eaters  only,  at  the 
rate  of  20  grains  a man  per  day. 

(c)  and  (d)  The  issue  of  opium  on  the  scale  mentioned  is  provided  for 
in  the  ‘Supply  and  Transport  Manual  (War).’  These  instructions  are 
still  in  force,  but  the  Manual  is  to  be  revised  shortly,  and  the  question 
will  then  be  examined  whether  the  issue  of  opium  as  a ration  article 
on  payment  should  be  continued  or  not.” 


25 


May  I compare  that  with  the  practice  of  certain  other  European  Powers 
who  have  possessions  in  the  East.  The  Dutch  will  not  admit  to  their  mili- 
tary services  any  person  addicted  to  opium.  Indeed  many  medical  officers 
themselves  have  held  that  the  inclusion  in  the  Indian  Army  of  personnel 
who  had  formed  the  habit  of  eating  opium  was  a very  great  mistake, 
and  as  a matter  of  fact  such  people  on  active  service  were  of  little  use. 

Now  since  the  debate  held  in  this  House  two  very  important  docu- 
ments have  come  into  our  hands.  The  first  is  the  Taxation  Committee’s 
Report  and  the  second  is  the  Assam  Congress  Committee’s  Report  on 
Opium.  Now,  Sir,  what  were  the  conclusions  of  the  Taxation  Commit- 
tee? I do  not  know  whether  my  friend  Mr.  Lohokare  has  read  that 
Report.  Here  are  some  of  the  conclusions: 

“(1)  The  Ghazipore  Factory  is  carrying  a stock  which  is  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  its  present  issues  and  which  represents  a very  large  lock-up  of 
capital. 

(2)  In  the  second  place  a recommendation  is  made  that  future  issues  of 
opium  should  be  in  pill  form  for  the  following  reasons : 

(a)  Less  labour  for  the  retailer. 

(b)  The  pill  form  will  protect  the  poor  against  adulteration ; 

(c)  The  large  cakes  in  which  opium  is  now  supplied  to  the  retailer 
is  an  aid  to  theft  and  hence  illicit  traffic.” 

The  Report  further  recommends  that  there  should  be  an  equality  of 
price,  one  rate  of  excise  of  monopoly  price  for  continental  India ; we 
would  thus  be  able  to  speak  about  “national  opium.”  The  Report  fur- 
ther condemns  the  present  auction  system  and  says: 

‘‘On  the  other  hand  the  steady  pressure  that  is  being  exerted  towards  limi- 
tation of  issues  to  those  for  medical  use  and  the  extension  to  Assam  of  the 
policy  for  registering  consumers  suggests  the  desirability  of  introducing  some- 
thing in  the  nature  of  official  vend.” 

Now,  Sir,  what,  may  I ask,  is  to  be  the  attitude  of  Government  to 
these  particular  proposals? 

The  second  important  document  is  the  Assam  Congress  Committee 
Report.  One  of  the  most  valuable  things  that  the  Congress  Committee’s 
Report  did  was  to  republish  extracts  from  the  Botham  Report,  which 
the  Government,  after  12  years,  made  public  last  June.  The  Com- 
mittee reported  in  1913  but  the  Government  has  refused  publication  of 
that  report  until  last  year.  Now  the  Botham  Report  says  regarding 
the  consumption  of  opium  in  Assam: 

‘‘Among  those  who  take  opium  only  (non-medical),  consumption  in  the 
form  of  smoking  is  almost  universal  to  this  extent  that  almost  all  smoke  in 
the  first  instance  and  only  take  to  other  forms  of  consumption  after  they 
have  become  confirmed  opium  takers.  . . . On  this  point  the  evidence  is  unani- 
mous and  conclusive. 

‘‘Over  the  five  districts,  half  would  be  a moderate  estimate  of  the  propor- 
tion of  those  now  smoking  to  the  total  number  of  consumers.” 


26 


I believe  it  was  suggested  even  as  late  as  last  year  to  this  House  that 
opium  smoking  was  unknown  in  India.  Sir,  the  Congress  Committee 
Report  makes  other  statements.  It  seems  that  the  original  peoples  of 
Assam  are  being  affected  in  larger  numbers,  and  that  even  the  labour 
force  in  Assam,  which  is  non-Assamese,  itself  is  being  affected,  I am 
particularly  interested  in  one  community,  a very  fine  Assamese  com- 
munity, the  Khasis.  I see  from  the  evidence  given  by  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Khasis  in  the  Assam  Council,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Roy, — a 
definite  statement  is  given  that  the  Khasis,  this  fine  race  of  people,  is 
becoming  infected  with  the  opium  habit.  Now,  Sir,  these  are  the  points 
to  which  I directed  attention  last  year  and  I have  brought  them  for- 
ward again.  I do  not  know  what  attitude  the  Local  Governments  are 
taking  towards  the  problem,  but  I hold  that  this  ought  to  be  a matter 
of  supreme  concern.  You  will  never  get  an  effective  opium  policy  until 
we  have  a united  policy  for  all  India,  and  until  that  is  done,  the  prob- 
lem cannot  be  solved.  In  all  the  world  there  is  a rising  tide  of  opinion 
against  the  non-medical  use  of  opium  and  legal  restrictions  against 
such  use  of  opium  are  more  stringent  than  ever  before.  Does  the  Indian 
Government  mean  to  suggest  such  precautions  are  useless  ? I pointed 
out  in  a debate  in  this  House  some  time  ago  that  the  habit  was  known 
in  England  in  the  early  19th  century.  We  are  told  for  example  about  the 
industrial  population  of  the  County  of  Leicester  in  a Home  Office  Re- 
port that  these  people  were  too  poor  to  go  to  church  or  to  indulge  in 
alcohol,  and  then  we  are  informed  that  “the  druggist  is  their  publican ; 
they  buy  opium  for  themselves  and  laudanum  for  their  children.”  That 
was  once  the  condition  in  industrial  England,  but  with  the  passage  of 
the  Pharmacy  Act  of  1858  opium  was  classified  as  a poison,  and  no 
one  was  permitted  to  sell  it  except  under  a strict  license.  Thus  opium 
as  an  intoxicant  disappeared  from  England.  All  civilized  countries  im- 
pose restrictions  on  the  sale  of  opium.  We  sometimes  assert  that  it  is 
necessary  to  the  Indian  people.  I was  in  that  comparatively  prosperous 
Indian  colony  of  Fiji.  The  Government  of  Fiji  absolutely  prohibit  the 
use  of  opium  by  any  one  in  the  Island,  including  Indians.  Further,  even 
when  facing  new  problems  such  as  come  to  the  British  Empire,  action 
has  been  taken  against  opium.  I think  of  the  work  of  that  great  admin- 
istrator Sir  Hugh  Murray,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Australian  Colony 
of  Papua  off  the  north-east  corner  of  Australia.  Papua  is  a dependency 
of  the  Australian  Commonwealth,  the  welfare  of  whose  indigenous  in- 
habitants has  been  undertaken  by  the  Australian  people.  I have  just 
read  through  the  labour  laws  of  Papua.  One  is  impressed  by  the  fact 
that  administration  is  carried  on  in  the  spirit  of  trusteeship.  Now, 
Sir,  among  the  labour  laws  for  Papua  (I  have  a copy  here,  but  shall 
not  read  extracts),  I was  reading  that  the  sale  to  the  natives  of  three 
kinds  of  articles  are  prohibited,  alcohol,  fire-arms  and  opium,  except 
under  permit.  The  law  allows  a permit  for  alcohol,  the  law  may  allow 
a permit  for  fire-arms,  but  there  is  no  provision  made  for  a permit  for 
opium.  Furthermore  the  law  lays  down  that  a native  may  not  carry, 
even  as  a transport  bearer,  a consignment  of  opium  from  one  part  of 
the  country  to  another.  If  a European  firm  consigns  fire-arms,  a native 
may  transport  the  passage,  but  the  law  prevents  the  carriage  of  opium 
across  the  island  by  one  of  these  people.  Surely  there  must  be  some- 

27 


thing  which  has  made  nations  all  over  the  world  take  this  drastic  action 
against  opium.  Sir,  life  is  cheap  in  India,  very  cheap,  and  I can  quite 
understand  the  administrator  being  appalled  by  the  problems  which  con- 
stantly arise.  But  the  problem  of  opium  does  not  stand  out  singly;  it 
is  intertwined  with  other  problems  such  as  the  extension  of  medical 
relief  in  this  country,  the  raising  of  the  standards  of  the  people.  Sir, 
if  this  Executive  Government  has  so  far  failed  to  rule  by  consent  of  the 
people,  at  least  in  this  matter  let  them  act  as  trustees  and  go  forward, 
making  their  plans  for  the  suppression  of  this  traffic  in  opium.  We  ask 
nothing  more  than  permission  to  co-operate  with  the  Government  in 
laying  down  a policy  with  regard  to  opium  that  will  be  satisfactory  to 
all  parties  concerned. 


28 


ANNEX  n 


Speech  by  Sir  Basil  Blackett  in  the  Indian  Legislative  Assembly, 

March  10,  1926 

SIR,  Dr.  Datta  has  given  us  a very  interesting  speech;  I always 
listen  with  very  great  interest  when  he  talks  to  us  about  opium. 
He  has  covered  a great  deal  of  ground  and  I do  not  propose  to 
attempt  to  follow  him.  So  far  as  export  is  concerned,  we  shall  have 
a debate  I hope  very  shortly,  when  the  Resolution  which  is  being  brought 
forward  by  the  Government  of  India  in  regard  to  the  further  restriction 
of  our  exports  comes  forward  for  the  approval  of  this  House.  As 
regards  that,  I think  Dr.  Datta  was  extremely  ungenerous  and  tried  to 
invent  out  of  his  own  mind  all  sorts  of  motives  for  the  Government  of 
India  in  bringing  forward  an  action,  the  reasons  for  which  are  perfectly 
clear.  They  entered  into  an  international  engagement  in  1912  and  a 
further  international  engagement  recently,  and  they  have  the  choice  be- 
tween the  course  they  now  propose  and  that  of  exercising  that  inter- 
national engagement  in  a way  that  will  bring  them  somewhat  un- 
pleasantly into  conflict  with  the  policy  of  other  Governments.  They 
felt  that  they  would  have  to  set  themselves  up  to  some  extent  as  exam- 
iners of  the  policies  of  other  Governments  or  take  some  arbitrary  course 
such  as  a complete  reduction  over  a period  of  years.  It  is  simply  be- 
cause of  the  international  engagements  that  we  have  already  entered 
into  that  we  feel  the  time  has  come  to  take  this  further  step.  I am  not 
prepared  to  say  that  it  is  going  to  have  any  effect  in  reducing  the  con- 
sumption of  opium  in  the  world,  and  it  certainly  is  going  to  have  the 
effect  of  reducing  very  considerably  the  revenues  of  the  Government  of 
India,  but  that  is  the  position  and  when  we  come  to  that  Resolution  we 
can  no  doubt  deal  with  that.  So  far  as  internal  consumption  is  con- 
cerned, I am  in  this  difficulty  that  in  every  one  of  the  provinces  except 
Assam,  opium  is  a transferred  subject,  and  I believe  that  very  shortly 
it  will  be  a transferred  subject  in  Assam.  Most  of  the  observations  that 
were  made  by  Dr.  Datta  therefore  are  observations  to  be  dealt  with  by 
the  individual  Provincial  Governments  in  the  transferred  departments. 
Last  year  when  the  debate  took  place  on  the  subject  of  Opium  I made 
a statement  which  I think  Dr.  Datta  has  misunderstood.  I said: 

“The  Government  recently  circularised  the  Local  Governments  in  regard 
to  this  question.  Attention  was  drawn  to  some  prima  facie  evidence  which 
has  been  produced  by  some  investigators  of  abuses  of  opium  in  various 
directions  and  the  Local  Governments  have  been  asked  to  re-examine  the 
question  and  to  consider  with  the  Government  of  India  by  what  means,  whether 
by  some  special  inquiry  or  another  Committee,  the  problem  should  be  dealt 
with,  if  the  Local  Governments  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  prima  facie 
evidence  making  it  desirable  to  review  the  conclusions  of  the  Royal  Commis- 
sion of  1893.” 


29 


I went  on  to  say  that  in  my  own  opinion  there  was  a good  deal  to 
be  said,  subject  to  that  qualification,  for  an  inquiry.  Dr.  Datta  read  my 
exact  words.  Now  at  that  time,  although  the  letters  to  the  Local  Gov- 
ernments had  been  sent  out,  we  had  not  received  their  replies.  The  final 
reply  was  received  at  the  end  of  last  December.  I have  the  file  in  front 
of  me  and  there  is  an  illuminating  note  on  it.  “Unfortunately  this  must 
now  wait  till  April”  because  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  India  with  the  Budget  and  the  Session  in  front  of  them,  to 
take  up  the  subject.  That  is  to  say,  we  must  take  it  up  in  April.  I am 
bound  to  say,  however,  that  the  opinion  of  the  Local  Governments  does 
not  suggest  that  they  think  that  there  is  any  occasion  for  a new  general 
inquiry.  There  is  very  little  evidence  before  us  which  suggests  that  any 
general  revision  of  the  conclusions  of  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission require  reconsideration.  The  matter  must,  however,  be  ex- 
amined by  us  as  soon  as  we  are  free  of  the  Budget  Session  and  the 
Local  Governments  meanwhile  have  had  their  special  attention  called 
to  the  necessity  for  careful  examination  of  the  problem  of  opium  in 
three  special  directions — the  possibility  of  closer  coordination  of  policy 
between  Governments  of  adjacent  Provinces  in  regard  to  the  fixing  of 
the  sale  price  of  opium;  the  necessity  and  possibility  of  taking  special 
measures  to  prevent  abuse  where  consumption  is  unusually  high,  of 
which  definite  examples  have  been  given;  and  the  practice  of  doping 
babies  with  opium.  There  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  the  Local 
Governments  are  fully  alive  to  the  whole  subject.  I am  not,  however,  in  a 
position  to  say  what  further  steps  the  Government  of  India  after  con- 
sideration of  these  replies  may  decide  to  take ; but  I should  say  at  once 
that  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  great  probability  of  our  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that  a new  general  inquiry  is  either  desirable  or  neces- 
sary. The  problem  can  much  better  be  dealt  with  by  the  Local  Govern- 
ments themselves  in  the  places  where  special  attention  is  required.  Dr. 
Datta  always  talks  about  this  problem  of  opium  as  if  it  is  a nation-wide 
evil  in  India.  There  are  black  spots  here  and  there  but  the  abuse  of 
opium  in  India  is,  as  I thinlc  I showed  in  my  speech  last  year,  very 
unusual.  The  Indian  is  always  temperate;  and  though  there  may  be  a 
few  cases  where  there  is  abuse,  just  as  in  the  case  of  alcohol  so  in  the 
case  of  opium,  the  evidence  of  abuse  is  extraordinarily  small.  I am 
quite  prepared  to  admit  that  there  are  places  in  Assam  where  opium  is 
a really  serious  evil  and  that  the  Assamese  Government  are  quite  alive 
to  that  question,  but  we  cannot  I think  usefully  attempt  to  deal  with  the 
problem  of  an  evil  which  is  to  a large  extent  local  by  the  heavy  machin- 
ery of  an  India-wide  Committee  or  an  India- wide  attempt  to  deal  with 
it.  It  is  much  more  likely  to  be  dealt  with  successfully  by  attention  to 
the  spots  where  the  evil  is  really  serious  by  the  Local  Governments  that 
are  in  direct  touch.  The  problem  of  course  is  one  which  has  also  to  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  Report  of  the  Taxation  Inquiry  Com- 
mittee. Dr.  Datta  drew  attention  to  the  proposal  that  an  attempt 
should  be  made  to  issue  opium  in  pill  form.  We  are  experimenting 
with  the  possibilities  in  that  direction.  There  are  technical  difficulties. 
I am  not  quite  sure  whether  the  form  that  it  will  take,  if  our  experi- 
ments are  successful,  will  be  exactly  a pill  form  but  it  will  be  some- 
thing corresponding,  and  that  undoubtedly  would  be  a useful  way  of 

30 


dealing  with  the  problem.  There  is  also  the  problem  of  the  Malwa 
States.  The  smuggling  of  illicit  opium  from  the  Malwa  States  is  men- 
tioned constantly  by  all  the  Local  Governments  in  their  replies  to  the 
letter  of  the  Government  of  India  and  specially  those  Local  Govern- 
ments who  are  neighbours  of  the  Malwa  States.  I believe  within  a 
month  there  is  to  take  place  a special  conference  which  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Central  Board  of  Revenue  will  be  attending,  to  examine  the 
position  in  the  Malwa  States  with  a view  to  seeing  what  steps  can  be 
taken  to  deal  with  the  difficulties  that  have  arisen  there. 

My  general  answer  therefore  to  Dr.  Datta  must  be  that  we  are  quite 
alive  to  the  trouble,  that  we  have  every  intention  of  following  up  the 
subject  as  soon  as  we  are  free  of  this  Session  of  the  Assembly,  and  that 
the  Local  Governments  are  themselves  already  actively  engaged  in  dealing 
with  the  problem  in  the  special  places  where  the  evil  is  marked,  and  that 
it  is  difficult  In  any  case  for  the  Government  of  India  to  intervene  in  a 
matter  which  is  mainly  a transferred  subject  in  the  Provinces.  I trust 
that  Dr.  Datta  will  realise  that  he  has  served  his  purpose  by  moving 
this  reduction  and  that  he  will  be  content  to  withdraw  his  motion  on 
the  understanding  that  we  shall  give  full  examination  to  the  subject 
during  the  summer. 


81 


ANNEX  III 


RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE  ASSAM  CONGRESS  OPIUM 
INQUIRY  COMMITTEE 

In  conclusion,  we  would  recommend  that  the  following  steps  be  taken : 

(1)  The  sale  of  opium  and  its  derivatives  should  be  ultimately  limited 
to  the  medical  and  scientific  needs  of  Assam. 

(2)  Provision  should  be  made  for  confirmed  addicts  above  the  age  of 
forty,  enabling  them  to  procure  a rationed  amount  of  opium,  their 
names  being  registered  for  that  purpose. 

(3)  All  opium  addicts,  who  are  under  forty  years  of  age,  should  be 
dealt  with  as  medical  patients.  Wherever  opium  is  needed  by  them, 
it  should  be  given  only  under  the  order  of  a fully  qualified  doctor, 
the  medical  permission  to  obtain  it  being  subject  to  quarterly  renewal. 

(4)  These  changes  should  be  carried  out  within  the  next  five  years.  At 
the  end  of  five  years,  opium  should  be  placed  on  the  list  of  poisons 
under  a Dangerous  Drugs  Act,  and  treated  as  such  for  all  inhabitants 
of  Assam. 

While  much  depends  on  the  Government  action,  we  feel  that  no 
progress  can  be  made  without  the  education  of  public  opinion.  The  Non- 
cooperation movement  showed  what  a great  advance  could  be  made  in 
opium  restriction  by  voluntary  effort  and  public  propaganda.  The  de- 
crease in  consumption  in  a single  year  is  a proof  of  what  can  be  done 
by  these  methods.  This  work  needs  to  be  still  further  promoted  and 
sustained.  :i  i 

We,  therefore,  appeal  to  all  those  who  desire  the  welfare  of  Assam 
to  organize  themselves  into  anti-opium  societies  and  to  advocate  opium 
prohibition  amongst  the  people  in  general.  This  will  lead  to  the  educa- 
tion of  public  opinion  against  the  opium  evil  and  create  a moral  atmo- 
sphere, without  which  no  great  success  can  be  achieved.  Every  avenue 
of  approaching  the  illiterate  masses,  who  are  the  greatest  consumers, 
should  be  employed.  Especially  necessary  is  the  careful  training  of  the 
young  children  in  all  the  elementary  schools  of  the  Assam  Valley  and 
among  the  Hill  tribes.  We  would  invite  the  cooperation  of  all  sections 
of  the  community  in  this  educational  work,  and  we  would  specially  ap- 
peal to  the  missionaries  to  help  us  in  organizing  temperance  societies 
among  the  Hill  tribes  with  whom  they  are  closely  connected. 

Finally,  we  would  venture  to  ask  Mahatma  Gandhi  once  more  to  come 
to  Assam  and  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a great  anti-opium  campaign  to 
be  carried  on  by  entirely  peaceful  means. 

(Signed)  KULADHAR  CHALIHA 

TARUN  RAM  PHOOKAN 
NABIN  CHANDRA  BORDOLOI 
KRISHNA  NATH  SARMA 
AMBICAGIRI  ROY  CHAUDHURI 
OMEO  KUMAR  DAS 
ROHINIKANTA  HATI  BARUA 


32 


ANNEX  IV 


OPIUM  POLICY  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA 

(Extracts  from  the  official  Report  of  the  Indian  Delegation,  International  Opium 
Conferences  at  Geneva,  1924-25,  pages  17-21.) 

Control  of  Production 

The  Hague  Opium  Convention  of  1912  refers  in  its  preamble  to  the 
gradual  suppression  of  the  abuse  of  opium  and  in  Article  I provides  that 
“the  Contracting  Powers  shall  enact  effective  laws  or  regulations  for 
the  control  of  the  production  and  distribution  of  raw  opium  unless  laws 
or  regulations  on  the  subject  are  already  in  existence.”  The  method  of 
consuming  opium  in  India  is  by  eating  or  swallowing,  and  the  opium  so 
used  is  raw  opium  as  defined  by  the  Convention,  For  generations  prior 
to  the  date  of  the  Hague  Convention  its  production  and  distribution  in 
British  India  have  been  controlled  by  Government  in  a manner  that  was 
accepted  as  a model  by  the  framers  of  that  Convention.  Production  is  a 
Government  monopoly;  the  poppy  is  cultivated  under  Government  su- 
pervision; practically  the  whole  of  it  is  grown  by  licensed  cultivators  in 
specified  areas  of  a single  province  and  must  be  delivered  to  the  Govern- 
ment Opium  Department.  The  acreage  under  cultivation  has  decreased 
from  about  614,000  acres  in  1905-06  to  141,000  in  1922;  cultivation  in 
the  Indian  States  has  also  decreased  from  about  146,000  acres  in  1905  to 
about  64,000  in  1921-22.  The  whole  of  the  opium  produced  in  British 
India  and  a certain  amount,  which  is  purchased  from  the  Indian  States 
and  represents  a considerable  portion  of  their  production,  is  “manu- 
factured,” i.  e.,  is  made  ready  for  packing  and  transport,  at  a Govern- 
ment factory.  The  total  weight  of  opium  which  the  factory  manufactured 
in  1922-23  was  about  1,900,000  lbs.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  is 
less  than  one-seventeenth  of  the  amount,  15,000  tons,  estimated  by  the 
International  Anti-Opium  Association  of  Peking  as  the  annual 
production  in  China.  In  view  of  the  falling  demand  for  opium 
the  Government  of  India  is  now  arranging  for  the  further  restriction  both 
of  cultivation  in  British  India  and  of  purchases  from  the  Indian  States. 
The  whole  of  the  opium  handled  by  the  factory  is  either  exported  for 
purposes  that  are  legitimate  under  the  Hague  Convention,  or  is  sold  at 
cost  price  to  the  Provincial  Governments,  which  thus  become  responsible 
for  its  distribution.  Under  the  Devolution  Rules  made  under  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India  Act,  1919,  the  control  of  the  cultivation  and  “manufac- 
ture” of  opium  and  of  its  sale  for  export  is  exercised  by  the  Central 
Government,  and  the  control  of  distribution  for  consumption  within  the 
provinces  is  placed  under  Provincial  Governments,  and  in  all  provinces 
except  Assam  is  transferred  to  the  charge  of  an  Indian  Minister,  who 
is  responsible  to  a Legislative  Council  containing  a majority  of  mem- 
bers elected  by  the  people  of  the  province.  , . . 

33 


Amount  of  Revenue  from  Opium 

In  the  year  1923-24  the  total  revenue  of  the  Central  Government  from 
all  sources  under  the  head  of  opium  was  3,186,000  1.  gross,  but  after 
deducting  production  costs  and  the  expenses  of  central  administration  this 
figure  is  reduced  to  1,245,000  1,  net;  this  revenue  is  almost  entirely 
made  up  of  the  proceeds  of  sales  for  export  and  sales  at  cost  price  to 
Provincial  Governments.  An  outside  figure  for  the  total  of  the  revenues 
of  the  Provincial  Governments  from  opium  (which  comes  under  the 
head  of  excise)  for  the  same  year  is  2,145,000  1.  gross;  this  figure  in- 
cludes transit  duties  and  fines,  etc.,  in  respect  of  other  excise  besides 
opium ; it  is  also  not  possible  to  reduce  this  gross  revenue  to  its  net 
figure  because  the  expenses  of  provincial  administration  on  opium  cannot 
be  distinguished  from  those  of  other  excise  administration,  which  is  carried 
on  by  the  same  staff;  this  opium  revenue  is  chiefly  made  up  of  licence  fees 
and  profits  on  the  re-sales  of  the  opium  purchased  at  cost  from  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India  for  consumption  in  the  provinces.  The  combined  gross 
figures  given  above  (3,186,000  1.,  plus  2,145,000  1.  equals  5,331,000  1.) 
amount  to  3.36  per  cent  of  the  total  gross  revenues  of  India  (158,728,000 
1.)  in  1923-24. 

In  calculating  the  real  proportion  which  opium  revenue  bears  to  the 
total  revenues  in  India,  it  seems  in  some  ways  fairer  to  take  the  gross 
opium  revenue  of  the  Central  Government  from  exports  only,  and  the 
total  gross  opium  revenues  of  the  Provincial  Governments;  for  that  part 
of  the  central  gross  revenue  which  is  derived  from  the  sales  of  opium 
to  Provincial  Governments  is  all  absorbed  by  expenditure  on  its  produc- 
tion and  sale.  In  1923-24  the  total  gross  opium  revenue  from  exports 
was  2,376,000  1.,  this  with  the  total  of  the  gross  opium  revenues  of  the 
Provincial  Governments  (2,145,000  1.)  gives  a combined  amount  of 
4,521,000  1.,  which  is  2.84  per  cent  of  the  total  gross  revenues  of  India 
(158,728,000).* 

Control  of  Internal  Distribution 

Distribution  of  opium  within  the  provinces  has  been  controlled  by 
Ministers,  except  in  Assam,  since  1921,  when  India  obtained  her  new 
reformed  constitution.  The  Ministers  have  inherited  a most  strict  sys- 
tem of  control  from  the  earlier  authorities.  The  Opium  Act  of  1878  pro- 
hibits the  manufacture,  possession,  transport,  import,  export,  and  sale 
of  opium  except  as  permitted  by  rules  framed  under  the  Act,  and  pro- 
vides for  the  confiscation  of  any  opium  in  regard  to  which  an  offence  is 
committed.  AH  transactions  are  at  every  stage  regulated  by  elaborate 
rules  made  by  the  Provincial  Governments ; imports  into  the  provinces 
from  outside  British  India  are  closely  restricted,  so  that  a province’s 
supply  of  opium  consists  practically  of  the  amount  purchased  by  the 
Provincial  Government  from  the  Government  of  India;  this  is  sold  only 
to  licensed  vendors  or  druggists,  and  the  licences  of  the  retail  vendors 
are  subject  to  the  most  stringent  conditions  designed  to  restrict  abuse; 
a limit  is  placed  by  law  on  the  amount  that  an  individual  purchaser  may 
possess  at  any  one  time,  and  retail  prices  are  artificially  fixed  at  high 
levels,  and  have  been  progressively  enhanced,  so  as  to  discourage  sales 
as  far  as  is  possible  without  incurring  undue  risk  of  stimulating  smug- 
gling. 


•Rupees  converted  throughout  at  Is.  6d. 


34 


ANNEX  V 


STATISTICS 

FOR  BRITISH  INDIA 

SHOWING 

CONSUMP- 

TION 

OF  OPIUM  PER  TEN  THOUSAND 
SEERS  FOR  1922-23 

IN 

(League  of  Nations  index  figure — 6 seers  per  10,000  people) 

Consumption 
per  ten 

Population  thousand  in 

Province 

Name  of  District 

(in  1921) 

seers* 

PUNJAB 

Hissar  

..  816,810 

11.17 

Rohtak 

772,272 

3.69 

Guraon  

682.003 

5.18 

Karnal  

..  828,726 

7.55 

Ambala  

681,477 

26.82 

Simla  

45,327 

21.84 

Kangra  

..  766,065 

2.96 

Hoshiarpur  

..  927,419 

15.86 

Jullandhar  

822,544 

23.05 

Ludhiana  

567,622 

49.36 

Ferozpore  

..  1,098,248 

60.00 

Lahore  

..  1,131,336 

40.15 

Amritsar  

..  929,374 

21.46 

Gurdaspur  

..  852,192 

13.12 

Sialkot  

..  937.823 

10.65 

Gu  j ranwala  

..  623,581 

12.38 

Sheikhupura  

523,135 

14.62 

Gujrat  - 

..  824,046 

5.04 

Shahpur  

719,918 

7.18 

Jhelum  

477,068 

10.58 

Rawalpindi  

..  569,224 

9.50 

Attock  

512,249 

9.06 

Mianwali  

..  358,205 

4.72 

Montgomery  

..  713,786 

8.63 

Lyallpur 

979,463 

15.56 

Jhang  

570,559 

6.48 

Multan  

890,264 

10.94 

Muzaffargarh  

,.  568,478 

5.38 

Dera  Ghazi  Khan 

495,810 

9.44 

Beloch  Trans  F.  Tract  .... 

Total  for  1922-23  (Province) 

..  20,685,024 

11.99 

UNITED 

Dehra  Dun  

212,243 

16.89 

PROVINCES 

Saharanpur  

937,471 

12.30 

Muzaffarnagar  

794,265 

8.59 

Meerat  

. 1,499,074 

10.09 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


35 


Province 

Name  of  District 

Population 
(in  1921) 

Consumption 
per  ten 
thousand  in 
seers’ 

UNITED 

Bulandshahr  

...  1,066,519 

10.37 

PROVINCES 

Aligarh  

...  1,061,745 

12.61 

(continued) 

Muttra  

...  619,138 

7.90 

Agra  

....  924,155 

8.66 

Mainpuri  

748,027 

2.29 

Etah  

...  827,760 

4.51 

Bareilly  

....  1,013,875 

4.16 

Bijnor  

....  740,182 

4.88 

Budaun  

....  975,347 

1.70 

Moradabad  

...  1,198,653 

12.98 

Shahjahanpur  

....  839,115 

4.84 

Pilibhit  

431,001 

5.83 

Farrukhabad  

....  856,633 

6.48 

Etawah  

....  733,532 

7.74 

Cawnpore  

....  1,148,664 

29.38 

Fatehpore  

....  652,392 

11.31 

Allahabad  

....  1,404,445 

10.08 

Jhansi  

....  606,499 

6.01 

Jalaun  

405,439 

9.93 

Hamirpur  

....  440,245 

7.10 

Banda  

....  613,114 

5.14 

Benares  

....  901,312 

32.10 

Mirzapur  

724,183 

9.66 

Jaunpur  

....  1,155,105 

6.11 

Ghazipur  

....  832,289 

1.25 

Ballia  

....  831,009 

1.07 

Gorakpur  

....  3,266,830 

2.64 

Basti  

....  1,925,228 

1.33 

Azamgarh  

....  1,528,657 

1.56 

Naini  Tal 

....  276,875 

6.09 

Almora  

530,338 

0.88 

Garhwal  

....  485,186 

1.12 

Lucknow  

....  724,344 

19.77 

Unao  

810,128 

6.26 

Rai  Bareilli  

....  936,403 

2.67 

Sitapur  

....  1,089,481 

2.35 

Hardoi  

....  1,084,410 

2.34 

Kheri  

....  913,475 

7.02 

Fyzabad  

....  1,171,930 

2.97 

Gonda  

....  1,473,098 

1.67 

Bahraich  

....  1,065,377 

2.45 

Sultanpur  

....  1,003,912 

2.56 

Partabgarh  

....  855,130 

2.74 

Bara  Banki  

....  1,029,954 

1.34 

Total  1922-23  

....  45,373,787 

6.64 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


36 


Province 

Name  of  District 

Population 
(in  1921) 

Consumption 
per  ten 
thousand  in 
seers* 

BENGAL:— 

Burdwan  

1,438,926 

13.77 

BURDWAN 

Birbhum  

847,570 

6.52 

DIVISION 

Bankura  

1,019,941 

5.39 

Midnapore 

2,666,660 

14.54 

Hoogly  

1,080,142 

4.04 

Howrah  

997,403 

15.83 

PRESIDENCY 

24  Parganas  

2,628,205 

20.72 

DIVISION 

Calcutta  

907,851 

143.59 

Nadia  

1,487,572 

4.98 

Murshidabad 

1,262,514 

5.14 

Jessore  

1,722,219 

2.82 

Khulna 

1,453,034 

4.68 

Dacca  

3,125,967 

3.04 

Mymensingh  

4,837,730 

1.30 

Faridpur  

2,249,858 

1.75 

Bakarganj  

2,623,756 

4.36 

Chittagong  

1,611,422 

6.11 

Noakhali  

1,472,786 

1.35 

Tippera  

2,743,073  ■ 

1.23 

Rajshahi  

1,489,675 

2.50 

Dina  j pur  

1,705,353 

2.97 

Jalpaiguri  

936,269 

2.69 

Rangpur  

2,507,854 

2.54 

Bogra  

1,048,606 

1.78 

Pabna  

1,389,494 

1.69 

Malda  

985,665 

8.24 

Darjeeling  

282,748 

7.00 

Grand  Total  of  the  Province  

46,522,293 

8.14 

BOMBAY 

Ahmedabad  

890,911 

44.31 

PRESIDENCY, 

Kaira  

710,982 

36.32 

SIND  & ADEN 

Panch  Mahals 

374,860 

62.50 

Broach  

307,745 

51.08 

Surat  

674,351 

11.58 

Thana  

759,916 

4.99 

Bombay  

1,328,754 

43.13 

Kolaba  

562,942 

3.62 

Ratnagiri  

1,154,244 

0.43 

Kanara  

401,727 

1.47 

Dharwar  

1,036,924 

1.99 

Belgaum  

952,996 

4.19 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


37 


Consumption 

per  ten 

Population 

thousand  in 

Province  Name  of  District 

(in  1921) 

seers* 

BOMBAY  (con.)  Bijapur  

..  796,876 

1.01 

Sholapur  

742,010 

35.40 

Satara  

..  1,026,259 

10.49 

Poona  

..  1,000,033 

36.61 

Ahmednagar  

731,552 

23.36 

Nasik  

..  832,576 

10.47 

West  Khandesh  

..  641,847 

6.15 

East  Khandesh 

..  1,075,837 

17.92 

Karachi  

..  542,065 

46.51 

Hyderabad  

..  573,450 

52.19 

Nawabshah  

418,660 

22.40 

Thar  Parkar  

396,331 

37.48 

Sukkur  

510,202 

47.38 

Larkana  

..  597,960 

28.56 

Upper  Sind  Frontier 

..  240,619 

12.97 

Aden  

56,500 

19.56 

Total  

. 19,348,319 

22.17 

MADRAS  Division  

. 1,496,358 

23.05 

The  Agency 

Gan  jam  

. 1,835,562 

22.96 

Vizagapatam  

. 2,231,874 

16.44 

Godavari  

. 1,470,863 

67.14 

Kistna  

. 2,133,314 

20.00 

Guntur  

. 1,809,574 

9.01 

Nellore  .-. 

. 1,385,553 

3.80 

Cuddapah  

. 887,929 

4.30 

Anantapur  

955,917 

1.32 

Bellary  

. 862,370 

0.89 

Kurnool  

914,890 

4.92 

Madras  

526,911 

26.32 

(Amount  sent  outside  from  Madras  is 

deducted. 

i.e.,  10,897 — 9,510  equals 

1,387.) 

Chingleput  

. 1,493,058 

1.55 

Chittoor  

. 1,269,157 

2.42 

North  Arcot  

2,055,594 

3.82 

South  Arcot  

2,320,085 

0.86 

Tanjore  

2,326,265 

3.67 

Trichinopoly  

1,902,838 

1.47 

Madura  

2,007,082 

2.37 

Ramnad  

1,721,837 

1.42 

Tinnevelly  

1,901,396 

3.09 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 

38 


Consumption 


Province 

Name  of  District 

Population 
(in  1921) 

per  ten 
thousand  in 
seers* 

MADRAS  fcon.) 

Coimbatore  

..  2,219,848 

2.63 

The  Nilgiris  

126,519 

21.26 

Salem  

...  2,112,034 

0.98 

South  Kanara  

...  1,247,368 

1.03 

Malabar  

...  3,098,871 

2.40 

Total  

...  42,313,067 

8.50 

ASSAM 

Cachar  

527,228 

19.57 

Sylhet  

...  2,541,341 

0.99 

Khasi  and  Jaintia  Hills  ... 

243,263 

41.81 

Naga  Hills  

160,960 

21.19 

Lushai  Hills  

98,406 

Goalpara  

...  762,523 

2.27 

Kamrup  

...  762,671 

45.52 

Darrang  

...  477,935 

106.73 

Nowgong  

397,921 

173.63 

Sibsagar 

...  823,197 

110.95 

Lakhimpur  

588,295 

189.97 

Garo  Hills 

179,140 

Sadiya  Front  Tract 

39,531 

237.029 

Balipara  Frontier  Tract. 

3,819 

136.161 

Grand  Total  

...  7,606,230 

52.06 

CENTRAL 

Nagpur  

..  792,521 

17.03 

PROVINCES 

Bhandara  

...  717,747 

12.51 

& BERAR 

Chanda  

660,630 

5.68 

Wardha  

...  463,696 

16.89 

Balaghat  

511,634 

23.45 

Tubbulpore  

...  745,685 

8.30 

Saugor  

.„  528,380 

6.04 

Damoh  

...  287,126 

3.13 

Sooni  

...  348,871 

19.15 

Mandla  

386,446 

10.95 

Betul  

...  363,737 

6.90 

Cahindwara  

...  491,835 

12.20 

Hoshangabad  

...  445,733 

10.72 

Narsinghpur  

315,162 

21.96 

N imar  

...  396,554 

10.26 

Raipur  

...  1,406,676 

16.42 

Bilaspur  

...  1,231,765 

7.76 

Drug  

...  743,246 

14.40 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


39 


Consumption 
per  ten 

Population  thousand  in 

Province  Name  of  District  (in  1921)  seers* 


BERAR 

Amraoti  

828,384 

30.25 

DIVISION 

Akola  

798,544 

33.02 

Badilana 

699,429 

35.20 

Yeotmal  

Grand  Total  for  9 
months  (April  to 
December,  1 9 2 2) 

748,959 

18.09 

C.  P.  & Berar 

13,912,760 

16.14 

BIHAR  & Patna  

1,609,631 

13.01 

ORISSA  Gaya  

2,159,498 

4.54 

Shahabad  

1,865,660 

2.28 

Saran  

2,289,778 

1.34 

Champaran  

1,908,385 

1.55 

Muzaffarpur  

2,845,514 

1.69 

Durbhanga  

2,929,682 

2.11 

Monghyr  

2,132,893 

3.10 

Bhagalpur  

2,139,318 

4.18 

Purnea  

1,989,637 

9.84 

Santal  Pargana 

1,882,973 

3.92 

Cuttack  

2,109,139 

25.47 

Balasore  

1,055,568 

55.92 

Angul  

199,451 

12.13 

Puri  

1,023,402 

30.26 

Sambalpur  

744,193 

11.29 

Hazaribagh  

1,288,609 

5.36 

Ranchi  

1,387,516 

5.49 

Palamau  

687,267 

6.47 

Mambhum  

1,547,576 

5.28 

Singhbhum  

694,394 

14.40 

Total  

34,490,084 

8.30 

NORTHWEST 

Hazara  

622,349 

12.28 

FRONTIER 

Peshawar  

907,367 

20.38 

Kohat  

214,123 

15.13 

Bannu  

246,734 

18.20 

Dera  Ismail  Khan  

260,767 

13.50 

Kurram  - 

103,142 

0.97 

Tochi  

138,859 

3.60 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


40 


Consumption 
per  ten 

Population  thousand  in 

Province  Name  of  District  (in  1921)  seers* 

NORTHWEST  Malakand  865,860 

FRONTIER  Khyber  227,109 

(con.)  Wano  150,612  


Total  3,736,922  10.18 


BALUCHISTAN  Quetta-Pishin  137,082  21.96 

Sibi  119.464  4.77 

Loralai  82,473  3.64 

Zhob  56,668  1.78 

Bolan  Pass  and  Nushki 3,618  41.46 

Kalat  State 328,281  0.91 

Chagai  21,343  2.81 


Total  748,929  5.99 


DELHI  Delhi  488,188  

AJMERE- 

MERWARA  495,271  52.74 

COORG 163,838  2.29 


BURMA  Akyab  576,430  34.78 

Kyaukpyu  199,873  47.48 

Sandoway  112.029  42.49 

Rangoon  Town 341,962  109.81 

Insein  , 293,083  27.33 

Hanthawaddy  364,624  33.24 

Pegu  445,620  22.80 

Prome  371,575  33.34 

Tharrawaddy  492,429  14.05 

Toungoo  381,883  32.73 

Thayetmyo  255,406  22.40 

Maubin  330,106  26.39 

Pyapon  288,994  33.95 

Henzada  550,920  33.31 

Bassein  489,473  44.97 


* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


41 


Province 

BURMA  rcon.) 


Consumption 

per  ten 

Population 

thousand  in 

Name  of  District 

(in  1921) 

seers* 

Myoungmya  

370,551 

43.12 

Thaton  

471,100 

21.69 

Ahmherst  

417,910 

42.21 

Tavoy  

156,786 

65.76 

Mergui  

135,465 

147.71 

Salween  

50,379 

16.48 

Pakokku  

465,771 

3.54 

Katha  

253,725 

55.89 

Shtveba  

391,284 

Sagaing  

326,908 

6.45 

Lower  Chindwin  

342,880 

23.62 

Upper  Chindwin 

186,881 

47.19 

Mandalay  

356,621 

Kyauksi  

142,677 

Meiktda  

289,897 

Yamethin  

323,189 

12.62 

Myingyan  

442,008 

4.73 

Magwe  

423,252 

Minbu  

274,302 

21.18 

Myitkyina  

118,382 

34.13 

Bhamo  

112,960 

20.98 

Mong  Mit  

Grand  Total  

11,457,325 

28.73 

* One  seer  equals  two  lbs. 


42 


ANNEX  VI 


STATEMENTS  OF  INDIAN  OPINION  AT  THE  SECOND  OPIUM 
CONFERENCE,  GENEVA,  1924-25. 


Extract  from  Statement  by  Mr.  Alexander  (Society  of  Friends), 

Records  of  the  Second  Opium  Conference,  Volume  I,  Page  451. 

“There  is  evidence  of  a rising  tide  of  opinion  in  India  in  opposition 
to  the  policy  hitherto  pursued  by  the  Indian  Government.  The  All-India 
Congress  Committee,  consisting  of  some  sixty  national  leaders,  unani- 
mously adopted  the  following  resolution  in  June  this  year : 

“ ‘In  the  opinion  of  the  A.  I.  C.  C.  the  opium  policy  of  the  Government  of 
India  is  altogether  contrary  to  the  moral  welfare  of  the  people  of  India  and 
other  countries.  The  A.  I.  C.  C.  is  further  of  the  opinion  that  the  people  of 
India  would  welcome  the  total  abolition  of  the  opium  traffic  for  purposes  of 
revenue  and  is  also  of  the  opinion  that  the  production  of  opium  is  out  of  all 
proportion  to  the  medical  requirements  of  India.’ 

“Mr.  Gandhi  and  Dr.  Rabindranath  Tagore  have  made  clear  in  public 
statements  that  they  hold  a similar  view. 

“Since  coming  into  this  room  this  afternoon  I have  received  a telegram 
from  Mr.  Gandhi,  which  says : 

“ ‘Please  tell  Convention  all  India  wants  complete  stoppage  opium  traffic  save 
for  medical  purposes.’  ” 

Extracts  from  Statement  by  the  Rev.  E.  J.  Dukes  (Society  for 
THE  Suppression  of  the  Opium  Trade),  Records  of  the 
Second  Opium  Conference,  Volume  I,  Page  452. 

“I  ask  leave  to  present  at  this  point  a petition  to  the  Assembly  on  be- 
half of  400  people  who  have  signed  it,  representing  societies  and  organ- 
izations making  a total  of  over  206,000  people  in  India  who  are  in  favour 
of  stopping  the  opium  trade. 

“It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  that  the  first  name  upon  this  list  is 
that  of  Mahatma  Gandhi ; C.  F.  Andrews  follows,  with  Ramananda  Chat- 
ter)ee,  Sir  Rabindranath  Tagore,  the  poet  and  social  reformer,  and  others. 
I have  to  present  to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  address.  May  I just  be 
permitted  to  read  what  it  says  at  the  beginning.  This  is  what  they  say: 

“ ‘The  undersigned,  viewing  in  the  growing  addiction  to  narcotic  drugs  a 
deadly  menace  to  individuals  and  to  nations  an  insidious  rapidly  spreading 
poisoning  of  the  human  race,  which  can  be  overcome  only  by  co-operation 
among  all  nations,  respectfully  petition  the  International  Opium  Conference, 
assembling  in  November  1924,  to  adopt  measures  adequate  for  the  total  ex- 
tirpation of  the  plants  from  which  they  originate  except  as  found  necessary 
for  medicine  and  science  in  the  judgment  of  the  best  medical  opinion  of  the 
world.’  ” 


43 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Opium  Documents  Issued  by  the  League  of  Nations.  Geneva, 
Switzerland. 

Legislative  Assembly  Debates  Official  Report.  Government  of  India 
Press,  Delhi,  India. 

Volume  V — No.  32,  March  12,  1925 
Volume  V — No.  33,  March  13,  1925 
Volume  VII — No.  29,  March  10,  1926 

International  Opium  Conferences  at  Geneva  1924-25,  Report  of  Indian 
Delegation.  India  Office. 

The  Truth  About  Indian  Opium.  By  G.  Graham  Dixon,  His  Majesty’s 
Stationery  Office,  London,  December  1922. 

Statistical  Abstract  for  British  India,  Fifty-Eighth  Number.  His 
Majesty’s  Stationery  Office,  London,  1925. 

Journal  of  the  East  India  Association.  Asiatic  Review,  London, 
January  1926. 

Opium.  By  John  Palmer  Gavit,  Routledge,  London,  1925. 

The  Imperial  Drug  Trade.  By  Joshua  Rountree,  Methuen  and  Co., 
London,  1905. 

The  International  Opium  Conferences  with  Relevant  Documents. 
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The  Opium  Evil  in  India.  By  C.  F.  Andrews,  Student  Christian 
Movement,  London,  1926. 

The  New  Constitutioh  of  India.  By  Sir  Courtenay  Ilbert  and  Rt. 
Hon.  Lord  Meston,  University  of  London  Press,  1923. 

Opium  as  an  International  Problem,  The  Geneva  Conferences.  By 
W.  W.  Willoughby,  Johns  Hopkins  Press,  Baltimore,  1925. 

Assam  Congress  Opium  Enquiry  Report.  R.  K.  Hatibarua,  Cinnam- 
ara,  Jorhat,  Assam,  India,  September,  1925. 

Opium  in  India.  By  William  Baton,  National  Christian  Council  of 
India,  Burma  and  Ceylon,  Calcutta,  1924. 

India  and  Opium.  By  William  Baton,  Reprint  from  International 
Review  of  Missions,  January,  1925. 

India  and  Opium,  The  Present  Situation.  By  the  Rev.  W.  Baton, 
Reprint  from  the  National  Christian  Council  Review,  Calcutta,  January 
1926. 

Speech  Made  by  Lord  Reading  at  the  Opening  Ceremony  of  the 
Indian  Council  of  State,  February  9,  1926 — Policy  Regarding  Opium. 

Resolution  Passed  by  Council  of  State,  Delhi,  India,  March  10,  1926. 

Figures  for  Opium  Consumption  in  British  India  by  Districts,  1922-23, 
Issued  by  the  Government  of  India. 

The  Pioneer.  Allahabad,  India. 

The  Times  of  India. 

The  London  Times. 

The  Manchester  Guardian. 


44 


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